IC-NRLF 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Class 


y' 


03  0  S'l'ON  ,  .b  .  J3  .  TltT S  Sil'ITL 


THE 


LIFE   AND    PUBLIC    SERVICES 


OF 


HENRY  WILSON, 


LATE  VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


BY 

REV.  ELIAS   NASON, 

AUTHOR  OF  "LIFE  OF  CHARLES  SUMNER,"  "GAZETTEER  OF  MASSA 
CHUSETTS,"  ETC.,  ETC. 

AND 

HON.   THOMAS    RUSSELL, 

LATE  COLLECTOR  PORT  OF  BOSTON. 


"I  have  striven  ever  to  be  true  to  my  country  in  peace  and  war;  to  main 
tain  the  cause  of  equal,  impartial,  and  universal  liberty ;  to  maintain  a 
policy  that  tended  to  enlighten  our  countrymen,  lift  burdens  from  the  toiling 
millions,  and  make  our  country  what  we  wish  it  should  be,  —  a  grand  dem 
ocratic  republic,  the  admiratica  S  all  rhe  world."  "HEN ^V  WILSON. 


BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED   BY  B.  B.  RUSSELL,   55   CORNHILL. 

PHILADELPHIA:   QUAKER  CITY  PUBLISHING  HOUSE. 

SAN  FRANCISCO:    A.  L.  BANCROFT. 

PORTLAND:    JOHN  RUSSELL. 

1876. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1875, 

BY  B.  B.  RUSSELL, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington, 


Boston  : 
Rand,  A  very,  S*  Co.,  S tereoty per s  and  Printers. 


TO 

THE  WORKING-MEN  OF  AMERICA 

CfjtS 
LIFE    OF    A    WORKING-MAN 

is 
RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED. 


225801 


PREFACE, 


A  STATESMAN  eminent  for  patriotism  and  integrity  is  a 
national  instructor.  The  record  of  his  life,  his  services, 
and  his  opinions,  is,  to  some  extent,  an  exposition  of  the  spirit 
and  progress  of  the  people  whom  he  represents ;  and  the  people 
have  the  right  to  claim  it,  not  only  as  a  memorial  of  the  past, 
but  as  an  inspiration  for  the  present,  and  a  light  for  times  to 
come. 

Pre-eminently  may  this  be  asserted  in  regard  to  the  distin 
guished  man  whose  biography  we  now  purpose  to  write. 

Holding  himself  steady  to  his  noble  purposes,  he  was  so 
prominent  an  actor  in  the  remarkable  events  of  the  last  twenty 
years,  he  was  so  identified  with  the  life  of  the  republic, 
that  an  account  of  his  official  career  becomes,  in  some  respects, 
the  key  to  the  history  of  the  country  for  that  period ;  while  in  the 
development  of  the  principles  of  freedom  which  he  made,  in 
the  consistent  life  he  led,  and  in  the  counsel  he  imparted,  we 
have  our  hopes  in  the  permanency  of  popular  government  bright 
ened,  and  our  steps  directed  as  we  rise  to  national  strength  and 

grandeur. 
1* 


In  making  a  register  of  his  life,  the  authors  have  had  access 
to  original  sources  of  information,  and  have  availed  themselves 
of  every  aid  within  their  reach  for  the  verification  of  their  state 
ments  as  to  matters  of  fact.  They  have  endeavored  to  present 
opinions  frankly  and  fairly,  and  to  render  this  biography  as  com 
plete  as  the  allotted  time  and  space  would  permit. 

If  this  book,  in  spite  of  any  errors,  tends  to  do  justice  to  the 
character  and  course  of  one  of  the  representative  men  of  the 
present  times,  to  give  dignity  to  labor,  to  inspire  working-men 
with  confidence  in  themselves,  and  stronger  love  for  our  country, 
the  end  for  which  it  is  written  will  be  attained. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  PA3R, 

The  Colbaths.  — Farmington  People  In  1812.— Mr.  WInthrop  Colbath  and 
Wife.  — Introduction  of  Son  to  Mrs.  Guy's  School.  —  School-Books  of  those 
Days.  — Change  of  Residence.  — Visit  to  Mrs.  Eastman.  — Testament.— 
Hard  Times  in  the  Family.  —Young  Colbath  goes  to  live  with  Mr.  William 
Knights.  —  His  Labors  on  the  Farm.  —  Kindness  of  Mrs.  Eastman.  —  Young 
Colbath's  Love  of  Books.  —  His  Reading.  —  Faithfulness  to  his  Employer. 
—  His  Frugality.  —  Freedom.  —  Compensation.  —  Change  of  Name.  —  Char 
acter.  —  Search  for  Labor.  —  Resolves  to  go  to  Natick  and  become  a  Shoe- 
maker  ....•••.•••.•..13 

CHAPTER  H. 

Journey  to  Natick.  —Visits  Bunker  Hill  and  the  Office  of  "  The  North-Ameri 
can  Review."  —  The  Town  of  Natick.  —  Shoemaking.  —  Lets  himself  to 
learn  the  Trade. —  Makes  Forty-seven  Pairs  and  a  Half  of  Shoes  without 
Sleep.  —  Forms  a  Debating  Club.  —  Improves  in  Speaking.  —  Deacon  Cool- 
idge.  —  Health  impaired.  — Visits  Washington  in  1836.  —  Opposition  to 
Slavery.  — Williams's  Slave-Pen.  — His  Own  Account  of  his  Visit. —  At 
tends  Academies  in  New  Hampshire.  —  School-Teaching.  —  Studies.  — 
Attends  an  Antislavery  Convention  at  Concord,  N.H.  —  Loss  of  Funds.  — 
Returns  to  Natick.  —  Improvements  in  the  Village.  —  He  begins  to  manufac 
ture  Shoes.  — Character  as  a  Business-Man.  — Amount  of  Business  done.— 
His  Regard  to  Principle 22 

CHAPTER   HI. 

The  Rev.  E.  D.  Moore:  his  Views,  and  Regard  for  Mr.  Wilson.  — The  Rev. 
Samuel  Hunt:  his  Influence.  — Bible-Class.  — Presentation  of  a  Watch.— 
Marriage.  —  Mrs.  Wilson's  Character.  —  Her  Influence  over  her  Husband.  — 
Their  House  and  Home.  —  Birth  of  a  Son.  —  Mr.  Wilson's  Regard  for  Tem 
perance. —  Speech.  —  Candidate  for  General  Court.  —  Defeated  on  the  Fif 
teen-gallon  Law. —  Enters  the  Harrison  Campaign.  —  General  Enthusiasm 
of  the  People.  — He  makes  his  first  Political  Speech.  —  Addresses  more 
than  Sixty  Audiences.  — His  Manner.  —  Elected  to  General  Court.  —  Story 
of  the  Farmer.  —  His  Industry.  —  His  Views  of  Slavery.  —  Advocates  Re 
peal  of  Law  against  Intermarriage  of  Blacks  and  Whites.  —  Defeated  as 

7 


8  CONTENTS. 


Candidate  for  Senate.  — Elected  to  that  Body  the  Next  Tear,  and  for  1845. 

—  Contends  for  the  Right  of  Colored  Children  to  a  Seat  in  the   Public 
Schools.  — Remarks  thereon.  —  Advance  in  Puhlic  Sentiment. —  Mr.  Wil 
son's  Mission ••••••! 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Hia  Military  Turn  of  Mind.  —  Reading.  —  Views  of  War.  —  Views  of  the  Mili 
tia  System.  —  Election  as  Major,  1843.  —  Colonel  and  Brigadier-General, 
i846.  —  Regard  for  Discipline.  — Popularity  with  Soldiers.  —  Speech  in  the 
Senate.  —  Peace  and  War.  —  Preparations  for  more  Important  Duties.  —  His 
Regard  for  Temperance.  —  Speech  at  Natick,  1845.  —  A  Citizen  at  Home.  — 
Appreciated  by  his  Townsmen 61 

CHAPTER  V. 

Southern  Efforts  to  annex  Texas  to  the  United  States.  — Mr.  Wilson's  Amend 
ment  to  Resolutions  against  Annexation  in  the  Senate  adopted.  —  Call  for  a 
Convention.  —  Opposed  by  Whigs.  — Held  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Jan.  27.  — Ad 
dress  to  the  People.  — The  True  Reformer.  — Meeting  at  Waltham.  — Mr. 
Wilson's  Views.  —  Convention  at  Concord,  1845.  — Mr.  Hunt.  — Meeting  at 
Cambridge,  Oct.  21.  — Address  of  Mr.  Wilson.  — Persistent  Efforts.  — Car 
ries  Petitions  to  Washington.  —  Refuses  to  take  Wine  with  Mr.  Adams. 

—  State  Representative  in  1846.  —  Introduces  Resolution  on  Slavery.  —  Elo 
quent  Speech  thereon.  —  Mr.  Garrison's  View  of  it.  —  Regard  for  the  Con 
stitution 60 

CHAPTER  VT. 

Regard  of  the  People.  — Delegate  to  the  National  Convention.  — Withdraws 
from  that  Body.  — Origin  of  the  Free-soil  Party.  —  "  Boston  Republican." 

—  Editor  of.  —  Its  Principles  and  Influence.  —  Chairman  of  Free-soil  State 
Committee.  — Member  of  the  House,  1850.  — Mr.  Webster's  7th-of-March 
Speech.  — The  Coalition.  — Election  of  Mr.  Sumner  to  the  United-States 
Senate,  1851.  —  Mr.  Sumner's  Letter.  —  Mr.  Wilson  made  Chairman  of  the 
Senate  that  Year.  — Address  on  taking  the  Chair.  — A  Contrast.  — "  The 
Liberator."  —  Harvard  University.  —  Thanks  of  the  Senate,  and   Closing 
Address.  — Delegate  to  Pi ttsburg.  —  Candidate  for  Congress,  1852.  — Chair 
man  of  the  Senate,  1852.  —  His  Course  in  the  Senate. —  Welcome  to  Kos- 
suth.  —  Sympathy  between  them.  —  His  Punctuality.  —  Gold  Watch     .        .      88 

CHAPTER  VH. 

A  Friend  of  his  Pastor.  —  Hard  Study. — Temperance.  —  Books  and  Authors. 

—  The  Source  of  Civil  Liberty.  — No  "  Back-Blows."  —  Cheerful  Spirit.— 
Home.  —  Gift  to  his  Minister.  —  Revision  of  the  State  Constitution.  —  Elected 
by  Natick  and  Berlin.  —  Punctuality.  —  His  Course.  —  How  he  looked  at  a 
Legal  Question.  —  Chairman  pro  tern.  —  Speech  in  Favor  of  Colored  Troops. 

—  On  the  Death  of  Mr.  Gourgas  of  Concord.  —  On  the  Course  of  Harvard 
College  in  Respect  to  Prof.  Bowen.  —  Address  to  his  Constituents.  —  Reason 

for  Defeat  of  the  A  meudments.  —  Cost  and  Influence  of  the  Convention      .    103 


CONTENTS.  9 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Candidate  for  Governor.  —  Defeated.  —  Not  disheartened.  —  Visit  to  Washing 
ton. —  Ilia  Grand  Idea.  —  Ready  to  surrender  Party  for  Principle.  —  Con 
vention  at  Worcester,  1854.  —  Again  nominated  for  Governor,  and  defeated. 
—  State  goes  into  the  American  Organization.  —  His  Views.  —  Southern 
Domination.  —  Antislavery  Sentiment  increasing.  —  Sumner.  —Mr.  Wilson 
nominated  United-States  Senator.  —  His  Firmness.  —  His  Election.  —  United- 
States  Senate-Chamber.  —  His  Fitness  for  the  Place.  —  His  Personal  Appear 
ance. —  His  First  Speech.  —  Letter  from  Mr.  Ashman. — Extract  from  Mr. 
Parker's  Sermon,  and  Letter  from  the  Same .  10 


CHAPTER   IX. 

Defection  of  the  American  Party.  —  Southern  Influence.  —  Wilson's  Resolution. 
Interesting  Letter.  — Address  in  New  York.  — Antislavery  Cause  in  Peril. — 
Brattleborough,  Vt.  —  Delegate  to  American  National  Council,  June,  1855. 

—  Stand  for  Freedom.  —  Protest.  —  Defiant  Speech.  —  Letter  from  Amasa 
Walker.  —  Remarks  of  "  The  Tribune."  —  Activity  in  forming  a  New  Party. 

—  Speech    at    Springfield.  —  Twenty-one- Years    Amendment.  —  Opposes 
it.  —  Friendly   to   Foreigners.  —  Letter   to    Francis    Gillette.  —  Catholic 
Spirit 129 

CHAPTER  X. 

Troubles  In  Kansas.  — Slave  and  Free  Labor  Antagonistic.  —  Reply  to  Mr. 
Toucey .  —  Mr.  Douglas.  —  Assault  on  Mr.  Sumner.  —  Aided  by  Mr.  Wilson. 

—  Scene  in  the  Senate-Chamber.  —  Challenge  of  P.  S.  Brooks.  —  Reply. — 
How  received.  —  Letter  of  Mr.  Harte.  —  Reply  to  Mr.  Butler  of  South  Caro 
lina. —  Letter  from  Whittier. — Labors  in  the  Senate.  —  Views    on    Sla 
very. —  Speech  July  9.  —  Musket-Ball. —  Speech  against  sending  Military 
Supplies  to  subjugate  Freemen  in  Kansas 14D 


CHAPTER   XI. 

Philadelphia  Convention,  1856.  —  Platform.  —  The  Campaign.  —  Sons  of  New 
Hampshire.  —  South  for  the  Dissolution  of  the  Union.  —  Kansas  and  Nebras 
ka  Bill.  —  Speech  on  the  Republican  Party.  —  Opening  of  the  Grand-Trunk 
Railroad.  — Speech  at  Montreal.  — Activity  in  the  United-States  Senate.— 
Measures  proposed.  —  Speech  on  the  Lecompton  Constitution.  —  Letter  from 
the  Hon.  George  T,  Bigelow;  also  from  the  Hon.  G.  R.  Russell  .  .  .211 


CHAPTER   XII. 

Character  of  his  Reply  to  Mr.  Hammond.  —  "Cotton  is  King."  —  Southern 
Institutions.  — A  Contrast.  — Social  Condition  of  the  North  and  South.— 
Mud-sills.  — Free  Labor  of  the  North.  — Conclusion  of  his  Argument.— 
Reply  to  Mr.  Gwin's  Challenge.  —  The  Affair  amicably  adjusted  . 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIH. 

Re-elected  by  a  Large  Majority.  —  Reasons  for  it. —His  Industry.  —Patronage. 
—  Advocates  Central  Route  for  the  Pacific  Railroad.  —  Extract  from  his 
Speech.  —  A  Radical  Southern  Party.  —  A  Personal  Interview.  —  His 
Course.  —  Temperance  Meeting.  —  Printers'  Banquet.  —  Paul  Morphy. — 
Fourth  of  July  at  Lawrence.  —  His  Address.  —  His  Course  in  respect  to  the 
Raid  of  John  Brown.  —  Meeting  at  Natick. —  Reply  to  Mr.  Iversori.  —  Vote 
of  Thanks  by  the  General  Court.  —  Speech  on  the  Slave-Trade  ...  250 


CHAPTER  XTV. 

Mr.  Lincoln  nominated. — Mr.  "Wilson's  Energy  in  his  Support.  —  Speech  a. 
Myrick's.  —  East  Boston. — Free  and  Slave  Labor.  —  Letter  of  Mr.  Packard. 

—  Secession  of  the  Southern  States.  —  Mr.  Wilson  Fearless.  —  Speech  in 
the  Senate.  —  Labors  in  the  Military  Committee  with  Mr.  Davis.  — He  fore 
sees  a  tremendous  Contest.  —  His  Position.  —  Great  Speech  on  Mr.  Critten- 
den's  Compromise.  —  Letters  from  Mr.  Whittier,  Mrs.  L.  M.  Child,  Gerrit 
Smith,  Amasa  Walker.  —  Vote  of  Thanks 273 

CHAPTER   XV. 

The  Beginning  of  Hostilities.— His  Advice  to  the  President.  —  Activity . — 
Labors  as  Chairman  of  Military  Committee.  —  Bills  introduced  by  him. — 
Letter  from  Gen.  Scott.  — The  Soldier's  Friend.  — Battle  of  Bull  Run,  July 
21.  —  He  raises  nearly  Twenty-three  Hundred  Men.  —  Made  Colonel  of  the 
Twenty-second  Regiment.  —  Goes  with  it  to  Washington.  —  Character  of 
this  Regiment.  —  Aide-de-camp  to  Gen.  McClellan.  — Letter  of  Gen.  Wil 
liams. —  Receives  no  Compensation  for  Service.  —  Unfounded  Charge  of  Mr. 
Russell.  — Mr.  Wilson's  Letter.  — His  Record.  — Rebellion  strengthens.— 
Character  of  the  Republican  Leaders.  —  Measures  introduced  and  carried 
through  Congress  by  Mr.  Wilson.  —  Letter  of  Mr.  Cameron.  —  Emancipa 
tion  in  the  District  of  Columbia.— An  Early  Aspiration  realized.  — Letters 
from  Lewis  Tappan  and  John  Jay  ......*..  304 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Conflicting  Powers.  —  The  Army  and  Congress.  — Position  of  Mr.  Wilson. 

—  Bill  for  Sutlers.  — Signal  Service.  — Pay  to  Officers.  — Medical  Depart 
ment. —  Volunteers.  —  Seniority  of  Commanders.  —  Storekeepers.  —  District 
of  Columbia.  — Medals.  — Pay  in  Advance.  — Abolition  in  District  of  Co 
lumbia.— The  Confederates.  — Militia  Bill.  — President's  Proclamation.— 
Rosecrans.  — Bureau  of  Emancipation.  —  Enrolment  Bill.  —  Remarks.  — 
Colored  Youth.  — Wounded  Soldiers.  — Corps  of  Engineers.  — Letter  of  Dr. 
Silas  Reed.  — Fall  of  Vicksburg.  —  Conference  with  the  Cabinet.  — Battle 
of  Gettysburg.  —  Gen.  Grant.  —  Address  before  the  Antislavery  Society.  — 
Thanks  to  the  Army.  —  Bounties.  —  Ambulances.  —  Colored  Soldiers  Free. 

—  Thirteenth  Amendment.  —  Speech.  —  Appropriation  Bill.  —  Wives  and 
Children  of  Colored  Soldiers  Free.  — Fourth  of  July  at  Washington.  —  Gen. 
Grant.  — "New-Bedford  Mercury  ."  —  A  Letter S2» 


CONTENTS.  11 

CHAPTER   XVTI. 

Mr.  Wilson  returned  to  the  United-States  Senate.  —  Notice  of  Election  by  "The 
Boston  Journal."  — Freedmen's  Bureau.  —  Military  Appointments.  —  Visit 
to  Fort  Sumter.  —  Death  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  —  Mr.  Wilson's  View  of  him.  — 
Speech  at  Washington  July  4.  —  Mayor  Wallach.  —  Advice  to  the  Colored 
People.  — The  Course  of  the  Executive.  —  Silver  Wedding.  — Description 
of. —Articles  presented.  —  Respect  of  his  Townsmen. —  Record  of  Anti- 
slavery  Measures  in  Congress.  —  Character  of  the  Work.  —  Opinion  of  "  The 
Atlantic  Monthly."  —  Summary  of  the  Work.  —  Slaves  used  for  Military 
Purposes  made  Free.  —  Fugitives.  —  District  of  Columbia.  —  "  Black  Code." 

—  Witnesses.  —  Schools.  —  Railroads.  —  Territories  Free.  —  Emancipation. 

—  Captives  of  War.  —  Rebel  Claimants  of  Slaves.  —  Hayti  and  Liberia.  — 
Slaves  in  Military  Service.  —  Fugitive-slave  Acts.  —  Slave-Trade.  —  Courts, 
Testimony  in.  — Reconstruction.  — United-States  Mail.  — Wives  and   Chil 
dren  of  Slaves.  —  Bureau  of  Freedmen.  —  Amendment  of  the  Constitution. 

—  The  Negro  a  Citizen.  — Colored  People  indebted  to  the  Labors  of  Mr. 
Wilson 338 

CHAPTER   XVTII. 

Course  of  the  President.  —  Reconstruction  Difficult.  —  Mr.  Wilson's  View.— 
No  Desire  to  degrade  the  South.  — Bill  to  maintain  the  Rights  of  the  Freed 
men.— Supports  Mr.  Trumbull's  Bill  to  enlarge  the  Freedmen's  Bureau. — 
What  he  means  by  Equality .  — Honorable  Sentiments. —Joint  Resolution 
for  disbanding  Military  Organizations.  —  Speech  on  the  Resolution  of  Mr. 
Stevens  against  the  Admission  of  Southern  Representation.  —  The  Nature 
of  the  Struggle.  —  Condition  of  Freedmen.  —  Mistake  of  the  President. — 
Gen.  Q-rant.  —  Legislative  Labors.  —  Speech  in  Boston.  —  Natick.  —  Defec 
tion  of  the  President.  —  Massachusetts.  —  Congress  a  Co-ordinate  Branch 
of  the  Government.  —  Tour  through  the  West.  —  Speech  at  Chicago.  —  Elec 
tive  Franchise  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  —  Corporal  Punishment.  —  Buy 
ing  and  selling  Votes. — Address  on  Religion.  —  Testimony  of  Statesmen  to 
Christianity.  —  An  Admonition.  —  Death  of  his  Son.  —  Monument. — Ad 
dress  at  Quincy.  — Good  Advice.  — His  Work  on  Military  Legislation  in 
Congress.  — Its  Character 361 

CHAPTER    XTX1. 

Peonage.  — Whipping.  — Colored  Persons  in  the  Militia.  — Bill  to  facilitate 
Restoration.  —  Speech  thereon.  —  Feelings  toward  the  Rebels.  —  Temperance 
in  Congress.  —  Hon.  Richard  Yates.  —  Reception  at  Tremont  Temple.  —  Re 
marks  of  W.  B.  Spooner.  — Mr.  Wilson's  Address.  — Mr.  Yates's.  — Liquors 
banished  from  the  Capitol.  —  Enforcement  of  the  Law.  —  Visit  to  the  South. 

—  At  Richmond,  Va.  —  Petersburg.  —  Animosity  of  Goldsborough,  N.C. — 
Reception  at  Wilmington.  —  Mr.  Robinson.  —  At  Charleston  May  2.  — 
New  Orleans.  —  Gen.  Longstreet's  Opinion.  —  Declines  going  to  Europe. — 
Bill  vacating  Offices.  —  Appointing  Civilians  incorporated  in  Mr.  Trumbull's 
Bill.  —  Remarks  on  its  Passage.  —  President  of  Convention  at  Worcester. — 
Speech.  — Gen.  Sheridan.  — Hopeful  View  of  the  Republic.  —  Speech  at 
Marlborough.  —  Effects  of  Intemperance.—  Who  are  Weak?  — Strong  Ap- 


12  CONTENTS. 

peal.— Speech  at  Bangor.— Gen.  Grant.  —  Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall.— Friend 
of  Working-Men.  —  Reconstruction  Measures.  — Style  and  Subject-Matter. 

—  A  Wedding 374 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Mrs.  Wilson's  Death  and  Character.  —  Mrs.  Ames's  Opinion.  —Visit  to  Europe. 
— American  Missionary  Society. — Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave-Power. — 
Extract.  —  Nomination  as  Vice-President.  —  Letter  of  Acceptance.  —  Ad 
dress  at  Boston.  —  Regard  for  the  Memory  of  Mrs.  Wilson.  —  Visit  to  North 
Carolina  and  Virginia.  —  Regret  for  One  Expression.  —  American  Party  and  ^A  j  ^ 
Credit  Mobilier. — Mr.  Sumner's  Course  regretted.  —  Election  as  Vice-Pres 
ident.— Hia  Poverty  -388 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Mr.  Wilson  presiding  over  the  Senate.— His  Industry.  —  Declension  of  his 
Health.  —  His  Retirement  from  Labor.  —  Visit  to  New  Hampshire.  —  Letter 
to  "The  Springfield  Republican."  —  The  Bounty  Bill.  —  Death  of  Charles 
Sumner.  —  Health  Improving.—  The  Second  Volume  of  "  The  Rise  and  Fall 
of  the  Slave-Power  in  America."  —  His  Back  Pay  as  Senator.  —  His  Opinion 
of  President  Grant.  —  His  Tour  to  the  South-west.  —  Summer  at  Saratoga. 
— The  Republican  Convention  at  Worcester. — His  Last  Sickness  and  Death. 

—  The  Autopsy 417 

CHAPTER  yyTT. 

The  National  Grief  at  the  Death  of  Mr.  Wilson.  —  President  Grant's  Order. 
— Honors  paid  to  the  Remains  at  Washington.  —  Dr.  Rankiu's  Address.  — 
Tho  Baltimore  Fifth  Regiment. —Honors  at  Philadelphia;  New  York.— 
Announcement  of  Gov.  Gaston.  —  Remarks  of  Mr.  Stebbins;  of  Judge 
Clark.  — Reception  of  the  News  at  Natick.  —  Meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall.— 
Address  of  Gen.  Banks.  —  The  Remains  in  Doric  Hall.  —  Memorial  Services 
In  the  House  of  Representatives. — Dr.  Manning's  Eulogy.  —  Services  at 
Natick.— Address  of  the  Revs.  E.  Dowse  and  F.  N.  Peloubet. — The  Burial 
at  Dell  Park  Cemetery.— Mr.  Wilson's  Will.-  His  Character  ...  427 


LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 


CHAPTER    I. 

INTRODUCTION. MR.  WILSON'S    FAMILY,   BIRTH,   BOYHOOD, 

APPRENTICESHIP,    AND    EDUCATION. 

The  Colbaths.  —  Farmington  People  in  1812. —Mr.  Winthrop  Colbath  and 
Wife.  —  Introduction  of  Son  to  Mrs.  Guy's  School.  —  School-Books  of  those 
Days. —  Change  of  Residence.  —  Visit  to  Mrs.  Eastman.  —  Testament. — 
Hard  Times  in  the  Family.  —  Young  Colbath  goes  to  live  with  Mr.  William 
Knights.  —  His  Labors  on  the  Farm.  —  Kindness  of  Mrs.  Eastman. —  Young 
Colbath's  Love  of  Books.  —  His  Reading.  —  Faithfulness  to  his  Employer. — 
His  Frugality.  —  Freedom.  —  Compensation.  —  Change  of  Name.  —  Charac 
ter.  —  Search  for  Labor.  — Resolves  to  go  to  Natick  and  become  a  Shoemaker. 

ONE  of  the  essential  benefits  of  liberal  institutions  is 
the  opportunity  afforded  by  them  for  developing  the 
mental  energies  of  the  masses  of  the  population.    Freedom 
is  the  fostering  mother  of  the  intellect  and  intelligence  of 
the  entire  people. 

The  voice  of  civil  liberty,  like  that  of  Christianity,  is, 
44  Ho  !  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters  ;  and 
he  that  hath  no  money;  and  whosoever  will,  let  him 
come."  Hence  America  is  the  best  country  in  the  world 
for  men  to  make  themselves. 

"  Sometimes,"  remarked  an  intelligent  Japanese,  "  we 
express  our  feelings  in  Japan  :  opinions  we  have  none." 
2  is 


14  LIFE   OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

Here  we  entertain  opinions  ;  we  express  them  freely ; 
and,  through  the  clashing  of  opinions,  make  advancement. 
Our  destiny  is  placed  in  our  own  hands  ;  and  every  man  is 
rated,  as  he  ought  to  be,  according  to  his  worth.  There  is 
the  goal,  the  prize  :  the  track  is  clear,  and  the  best  cham 
pion  wins. 

Thus  from  the  bosom  of  the  people  came  up  Washing 
ton,  Jackson,  Clay,  and  Lincoln  ;  and  thus  arose  the  legis 
lator  whose  career  we  now  attempt  to  trace. 

Henry  Wilson  is  the  son  of  Winthrop  and  Abigail 
Colbath ;  and  was  born  in  Farmington,  N.H.,  on  the 
sixteenth  day  of  February,  1812.  His  father  was  the 
son  of  Winthrop  Colbath  ;  and  was  born  in  that  town  on 
the  seventh  day  of  April,  1787 ;  and  died  in  Natick,  Mass., 
on  the  tenth  day  of  February,  1860.  His  mother  was 
born  on  the  twenty-first  day  of  March,  1785 ;  and  died 
on  the  eighth  day  of  August,  1866.  They  rest  side  by 
side  in  the  cemetery  at  Natick,  where  the  son  has  erected 
marble  headstones  to  their  memory. 

The  Colbath  family,  originally,  as  supposed,  from 
Argyleshire  in  Scotland,  emigrated  to  the  north  of  Ireland 
in  the  troublesome  times  of  James  the  First ;  thence  to 
America,  and  settled  at  Newington,  N.H.,  early  in  the 
eighteenth  century. 

At  the  time  of  Mr.  Wilson's  birth,  his  parents  were 
livino-  in  a  small  cottage  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Cocheco 

C5  £">  O 

River,  about  one  mile  south  of  the  "  Dock,"  as  the  village 
of  Farmington  was  then  called.  The  site  of  the  cottage 
is  on  a  gentle  eminence  commanding  a  pleasant  prospect 
of  the  river  and  surrounding  country. 

Farmingten,  which  is  in  Strafford  County,  and  about 
thirty-five  miles  north-east  from  Concord,  and  seventeen 
north-west  from  Dover,  contained,  at  this  period,  about 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

twelve  hundred  inhabitants  ;  and  they  were  mostly  engaged 
in  agricultural  pursuits.  They  earned  their  livelihood  by 
the  sweat  of  the  brow.  They  had  but  slender  educational 
advantages  ;  and  their  style  of  speech,  of  dress,  of  build 
ing,  and  of  life  in  general,  was  plain  and  unpretending. 
They  generally  spun  and  wove  their  own  garments  from 
wool  of  their  own  raising.  They  stored  their  barns  with 
hay  in  summer,  their  cellars  with  apples  and  cider  in  the 
autumn.  They  spent  the  long  winter  evenings  around  the 
ample  fireplace  in  shelling  corn,  making  brooms,  crack 
ing  nuts,  singing  songs,  and  telling  stories  of  the  times  gone 

by- 

Mr.  Winthrop  Colbath  was  a  poor  day -laborer,  engaged 
for  many  years  in  running  a  saw-mill  on  the  river  below 
his  house.  He  was  rather  tall,  good-looking,  agile,  brave, 
and  quick  at  repartee.  His  wife  was  handsome,  fond  of 
reading,  sensible,  and  industrious.  Her  eyes  were  very 
keen  and  piercing.  For  his  father  and  mother  Mr.  Wilson 
ever  entertained  and  cherished  the  most  affectionate  and 
kind  regard. 

Like  other  indigent  and  hard-working  people  of  New 
England,  Mr.  Wilson's  parents  saw  the  value  of  the  pub 
lic  school,  and  early  introduced  their  bright-eyed  son  to 
the  tuition  of  Mistress  Guy,  who  quickly  taught  him  how 
to  read  and  spell,  from  Perry's  "  Spelling-Book "  and 
"  The  Primer,"  in  the  old  wooden  schoolhouse. 

He  was  a  studious  and  obedient  pupil,  improving  well 
the  opportunities  he  had  for  learning  in  his  boyhood. 

The  school-books  at  that  time  in  Farmington  were 
Welch's  and  Adams's  "  Arithmetics,"  "  The  English 
Reader,"  "  The  American  Preceptor,"  and  "  The  Colum 
bian  Orator."  Over  these  this  boy  spent  many  an  hour 
in  the  long  seats  of  the  unpainted  district  schoolhouse  ; 


16  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

and  whatever  entered  his  retentive  memory  remained  as 
in  a  vice,  —  fixed  and  unchangeable. 

When  he  was  about  seven  years  old,  his  father  built  a 
small  house  in  front  of  an  old  grove  of  pines,  just  where 
the  Cocheco  River  makes  a  beautiful  bend  to  the  right, 
and  to  this  place  removed  his  little  family.  Nothing  now 
remains  to  indicate  the  spot  except  the  cellar,  and  some 
peach  and  cherry  trees  growing  in  the  enclosure. 

When  he  was  eight  years  old  (1820),  a  little  inci 
dent  took  place  which  had  some  influence  upon  his 
future  course  of  life.  Mrs.  Anstress  (Woodbury)  East 
man,  wife  of  the  Hon.  Nehemiah  Eastman,  and  sister  of 
the  Hon.  Levi  Woodbury,  seeing  him  pass  her  house, 
called  him  to  her,  gave  him  some  clothes  of  which  he  was  in 
need,  and  inquired  if  he  knew  how  to  read.  u  Yes,  pretty 
well,"  he  answered  her.  "  Come,  then,  and  see  me  at  my 
house  to-morrow,"  she  replied  with  kindness.  Early  the 
next  morning  he  presented  himself  before  the  lady  ;  when 
she  said  to  him,  u  I  had  intended  to  give  a  Testament  to 
some  good  boy  that  would  be  likely  to  make  a  proper  use 
of  it.  You  tell  me  you  can  read:  now  take  this  book,  and 
let  me  hear  you."  He  read  a  chapter  in  the  Testament. 
44  Now  carry  the  book  home  with  you,"  said  she,  "  read  it 
entirely  through,  and  you  shall  have  it." 

Gladly  he  accepted  the  condition  ;  for  a  book  he  had 
never  owned,  and  to  him  it  was  a  golden  treasure.  He 
hurried  home  to  read  it.  After  seven  days  he  called  again 
at  Mrs.  Eastman's  house,  and  said  to  her  that  he  had  read 
the  book  from  beginning  to  end. 

"  It  cannot  be  ! "  said  Mrs.  Eastman  with  surprise. 
"  But  let  me  try  you."  So,  calling  him  to  her  side,  she 
carefully  examined  him  till  she  was  fully  satisfied  that  he 
had  read  the  Testament  entirely  through,  and  fairly  won 
the  prize  he  coveted. 


INTRODUCTION.  17 

Mr.  Wilson  has  publicly  declared  that  the  reading  of 
this  Testament,  which  he  still  keeps,  together  with  the 
subsequent  examination,  was  the  starting-point  in  his  intel 
lectual  life. 

The  times,  especially  for  the  working-men,  were  very 
gloomy  at  this  period.  The  war  with  England  had  im 
poverished  the  country.  Money  was  scarce  ;  wages  were 
low.  Want  and  sickness  entered  the  Col  bath  family. 
Three  of  the  little  children  died,  and  were  buried  in  the  field 
opposite  the  house.  In  reference  to  these  days  of  trial, 
Mr.  Wilson  once,  in  public,  said,  "  I  was  born  in  poverty : 
Want  sat  by  my  cradle.  I  know  what  it  is  to  ask  a 
mother  for  bread  when  she  has  none  to  give.'* 

So,  in  his  reply  to  Mr.  Hammond,  who  had  characterized 
working-men  as  "  the  mud-sills  of  society,"  he  thus 
touchingly  alluded  to  these  early  days  of  trial :  — 

"  Poverty  cast  her  dark  and  chilling  shadow  over  the 
home  of  my  childhood,  and  Want  was  there  sometimes  an 
unbidden  guest.  At  the  age  of  ten  years,  to  aid  him 
who  gave  me  being  in  keeping  the  gaunt  spectre  from  the 
hearth  of  the  mother  who  bore  me,  I  left  the  home  of  my 
boyhood,  and  went  to  earn  my  bread  by  *  daily  labor.' ' 

This  active  boy,  nurtured  in  adversity,  had  a  vigorous 
constitution  :  above  all,  he  had  an  inspiration  ;  and  a  boy 
with  an  inspiration  is  far  better  than  a  boy  with  a  great 
fortune. 

In  the  summer  of  1822  he  was  bound  by  indenture  to  a 
hard-working  farmer  of  the  neighborhood  to  serve  him 
on  his  farm  until  the  age  of  twenty-one.  By  the  terms 
of  the  indenture,  he  was  to  have  one  month's  schooling  in 
the  winter,  food  and  raiment,  with  six  sheep  and  a  yoke  of 
oxen  to  be  delivered  to  him  at  the  expiration  of  his  time 
of  service.  He  went  to  live  with  Mr.  Knight  upon  the 


18  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

seventh  day  of  August,  being  then  a  little  more  than  ten 
years  old,  and  began  at  once  the  hard  work  of  the  farm. 
As  he  increased  in  age,  his  toil  became  more  steady  and 
severe.  In  summer  he  swung  the  scythe,  or  handled  the 
sickle,  till  the  evening  stars  appeared :  in  winter  he  cut 
timber  in  the  forest. 

But  while  thus  laboring  uncomplainingly,  and  develop 
ing  by  incessant  toil  his  physical  system,  he  was  also 
turning  every  moment  he  could  save  from  house  and 
iarm  work  to  the  improvement  of  his  mind.  He  read 
with  intense  avidity  whatever  books  came  in  his  way ;  and 
he  remembered  what  he  read. 

"  I  believe,"  says  Walter  Scott,  "  one  reason  why  such 
numerous  instances  of  erudition  occur  among  the  lower 
ranks  is,  that,  with  the  same  powers  of  mind,  the  poor 
student  is  limited  to  a  narrow  circle  for  indulging  his  pas 
sion  for  books,  and  must  necessarily  make  himself  master 
of  the  few  he  possesses  ere  he  can  acquire  more." 

This  poor  boy  had,  at  first,  no  books  except  his  Testa 
ment  and  the  text-books  of  the  district  school.  He  read 
them  over  and  over  again,  committed  many  parts  of  them 
to  memory,  and  longed  for  more.  Mrs.  Eastman,  as  a 
kind  of  guardian  angel,  still  watched  over  him.  She 
noticed  his  regard  for  books :  she  kindly  made  selections 
*br  him  from  her  husband's  library,  and  lent  him  volume 
after  volume.  This  was  a  godsend  to  him.  Every  mo 
ment  he  could  now  steal  from  toil  was  spent  in  reading. 
This  was  his  pastime  and  his  recreation.  Some  of  the 
happiest  moments  of  his  life  were  spent  in  running,  when 
work  was  over,  to  the  dwelling  of  his  benefactress  for 
another  book.  By  the  light  of  the  kitchen-fire — for  he 
had  no  money  to  purchase  oil — he  went  through  volume 
after  volume  ;  sometimes  reading  on,  unconscious  of  the 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

flight  of  time,  until  the  morning  broke.  In  this  way  he 
perused  the  leading  works  of  the  British  and  American 
statesmen  and  historians,  the  fascinating  pages  of  Irving, 
Cooper,  and  Scott,  all  the  then  published  numbers  of  "  The 
North-American  Review,"  and  many  other  current  publi 
cations  of  the  day. 

Judge  Whitehouse  of  Farmington  also  lent  him  many 
books,  and  directed  him  in  his  course  of  reading.  It  was 
fortunate  that  he  met  with  such  intelligent  guides,  and 
that  the  best  works  in  English  and  American  literature 
thus  fell  into  his  hands  ;  for  it  is  the  quality  rather  than 
the  quantity  of  the  material  received  into  the  mind  that 
yields  valuable  increase. 

So  industriously  had  this  hard-working  boy  availed  him 
self  of  these  means  of  culture,  that,  at  the  expiration  of 
his  time  of  service  (February,  1833),  he  had  read,  and  then 
held  in  mind,  nearly  a  thousand  volumes  of  history,  biog 
raphy,  philosophy,  and  general  literature.  Thus  he  bore 
away  from  that  hard  farm  more  solid  information,  and  a 
heart  better  prepared  to  toil  and  to  achieve,  than  many 
bear  away  with  the  diploma  from  the  university. 

To  the  interests  of  his  employer  he  was  ever  faithful. 
His  eye  was  quick,  his  judgment  clear ;  his  health  was 
good ;  his  habits  were  correct ;  and  hence  his  services 
were  valuable. 

On  closing  them  he  received  the  promised  compensation, 
—  six  sheep  and  a  yoke  of  oxen,  all  of  which  he  sold  imme 
diately  for  the  sum  of  eighty-four  dollars  cash.  So  poor 
had  he  been  up  to  this  period,  that  he  had  never  possessed 
two  dollars  ;  and  a  single  dollar  would  cover  every  penny 
he  had  ever  spent. 

Having  now  arrived  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he,  by  an 
act  of  the  legislature,  had  his  name  changed  from  Jeremiah 


20  LIFE   OF   HENRY    WILSON. 

Jones  Colbath  to  Henry  Wilson.  This  was  done  by  the 
advice  of  the  family  he  had  lived  with,  and  with  the  ap 
proval  of  his  parents. 

The  question  now  before  Mr.  Wilson  was,  "  Hew  shall 
I  obtain  a  livelihood,  and  assist  my  father  and  his  family?" 
He  set  himself  at  once  to  seek  employment ;  and  the 
struggles  which  it  cost  him  to  obtain  it  will  forever  keep 
alive  his  sympathies  for  the  working-people. 

He  hired  himself  for  several  months  in  Farmington  ;  but 
the  compensation  was  so  trivial,  that  he  soon  resolved  to 
leave  his  native  town,  and  find  work  elsewhere.  He 
packed  up  his  clothes  and  visited  several  places,  seeking 
for  it,  but  in  vain.  He  himself  shall  tell  the  story.  Ad 
dressing  the  citizens  of  Great  Falls  last  February,  he 
said,  — 

"  I  know  what  it  is  to  travel  weary  miles,  and  ask  my 
fellow-men  to  give  me  leave  to  toil.  I  remember,  that,  in 
1833,  I  walked  into  your  village  from  my  native  town, 
and  went  through  your  mills,  seeking  employment.  If 
anybody  had  offered  me  eight  or  nine  dollars  a  month, 
I  should  have  accepted  it  gladly.  I  went  down  to  Sal 
mon  Falls,  I  went  to  Dover,  I  went  to  Newmarket,  and 
tried  to  get  work,  without  success  ;  and  I  returned  home 
weary,  but  not  discouraged,  and  put  my  pack  on  my  back, 
walked  to  the  town  where  I  now  live,  and  learned  a 
mechanic's  trade.  I  know  the  hard  lot  that  toiling  men 
have  to  endure  in  this  world ;  and  every  pulsation  of  my 
heart,  every  conviction  of  my  judgment,  puts  me  on  the 
side  of  the  toiling  men  of  my  country,  —  ay,  of  all  coun 
tries.  I  am  glad  the  working-men  in  Europe  are  getting 
discontented  and  want  better  wages.  I  thank  God  that  a 
man  in  the  United  States  to-day  can  earn  from  three  to 
four  dollars  in  ten  hours'  work  easier  than  he  could,  forty 


INTRODUCTION.  .  21 

years  ago,  earn  one  dollar,  working  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
hours.  The  first  month  I  worked  after  I  was  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  I  went  into  the  woods,  drove  team,  cut  mill- 
logs,  rose  in  the  morning  before  daylight,  and  worked 
hard  until  after  dark  at  night ;  and  I  received  for  it  the 
magnificent  sum  of  six  dollars !  —  and,  when  I  got  the 
money,  those  dollars  looked  as  large  to  me  as  the  moon 
looks  to-night." 

Unsuccessful  in  obtaining  employment  in  New  Hamp 
shire,  Mr.  Wilson  finally  determined  to  seek  his  fortune 
in  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  He  had  heard  of  the 
prices  paid  for  making  shoes  in  the  enterprising  town  of 
Natick :  hence  he  resolved  to  go  there,  and  to  try  a  new 
vocation.  He  had  learned  to  endure  hardship  without 
murmuring.  His  hand  and  eye  were  well  trained  ;  his 
head  was  clear ;  his  heart  was  honest ;  his  store  of  knowl 
edge  large  ;  he  had  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body.  His 
purpose  was  to  work :  what,  then,  could  be  expected  of 
him  but  success  ? 


CHAPTER   II. 


MR.   WILSON   LEAVES   NEW   HAMPSHIRE. HARD    WORK   AT 

NATICK. DEBATING    SOCIETY. VISIT    TO    WASHING 
TON. STRUGGLES    FOR    AN    EDUCATION. MR. 

WILSON    AS   A    MANUFACTURER. 

Journey  to  Natick.  —  Visits  Bunker  Hill  and  the  Office  of  "  The  North- Ameri 
can  Review."  —  The  Town  of  Natick.  —  Shoemaking.  —  Lets  himself  to  learn 
the  Trade.  — Makes  Forty-seven  Pairs  and  a  Half  of  Shoes  without  Sleep.  — 
Forms  a  Debating  Club.  —  Improves  in  Speaking.  —  Deacon  Coolidge. — 
Health  impaired.  —  Visits  Washington  in  1836.  —  Opposition  to  Slavery.  — 
Williams's  Slave-Pen.  —  His  Own  Account  of  his  Visit.  —  Attends  Acade 
mies  in  New  Hampshire.  —  School-Teaching.  —  Studies.  —  Attends  an 
Anti  slavery  Convention  at  Concord,  N.H.  —  Loss  of  Funds.  —  Returns  to 
Natick.  — Improvements  in  the  Village.  —  He  begins  to  manufacture  Shoes. 
—  Character  as  a  Business-Man.  —  Amount  of  Business  done.  —  His  Regard 
to  Principle. 

IN  December,  1833,  Mr.  Wilson  packed  up  his  slender 
wardrobe,  bade  his  friends  farewell,  and  set  out  on 
foot  for  the  town  of  Natick.  He  had  but  little  money  in 
his  pocket ;  and  he  resolved  to  make  the  journey  with  as 
little  expense  as  possible.  On  the  first  day  he  travelled  as 
far  as  Durham,  where  he  obtained  lodging  with  a  farmer;  the 
next  night  he  reached  Salisbury,  on  the  Merrimack  River ; 
and  in  the  morning  following  visited  Newburyport,  where,  to 
ease  his  blistered  feet,  he  purchased  for  twenty-five  cents  a 
pair  of  slippers,  in  which  he  more  comfortably  pursued  his 
way.  Arriving  at  night  at  Saugus,  he  found  entertainment  in 
22 


ME.   WILSON   LEAVES   NEW  HAMPSHIEE.  23 

a  private  family  ;  and  his  waking  dreams  were  of  the  famous 
city  of  Boston,  which  he  was  to  see,  for  the  first  time,  on 
the  morrow.  The  two  points  of  special  interest  to  him 
were  Bunker  Hill,  whose  story  had  so  often  thrilled  his 
imagination  ;  and  the  office  of  "  The  North-American 
Review,"  which  had  sent  forth  so  many  learned  articles  to 
instruct  him,  and  to  lighten  the  burden  of  his  toil  at 
Farming-ton. 

Rising  early,  and  paying  twenty-five  cents  for  his  lodg 
ing,  he  recommenced  his  journey,  and  in  a  few  hours  stood 
upon  the  celebrated  spot  where  Warren  fell.  His  quick 
eye  swept  over  the  whole  scene ;  his  imagination  pictured 
forth  the  first  grand  action  on  behalf  of  freedom  in  Amer 
ica.  It  was  to  him  an  inspiration. 

On  leaving  this  memorable  spot,  he  inquired  the  way  to 
the  office  of  "  The  North-American  Review,"  which  he 
found  to  be  at  141  Washington  Street,  and  something  less 
than  he  anticipated.  "  Can  so  much  good,"  thought  he, 
"  come  out  of  Nazareth  ?  "  and  so,  having  seen  what  he 
considered  worthy  of  consideration  in  the  city,  he  inquired 
the  way  to  Natick.  Some  one  misdirected  him,  and  sent 
him,  by  a  detour  of  several  miles,  through  the  town  of 
Dedham.  On  arriving  about  midnight  at  his  point  of 
destination,  he  stopped  at  the  old  tavern  on  the  turn 
pike  in  the  western  part  of  the  village,  and  found,  on  ex 
amining  his  exchequer,  that  he  had  spent  just  a  dollar 
and  five  cents  in  travelling  the  whole  distance  of  about  a 
hundred  miles  from  Farmington  to  Natick.  Such  Spartan- 
like  endurance  and  economy  were  no  mean  elements  in 
the  training  of  the  future  statesman. 

Natick,  which  in  the  Nipmuck  language  signifies  "a 
place  of  hills,"  is  seventeen  miles  south-west  of  Boston, 
and,  as  the  name  would  indicate,  has  its  full  share  of 


24  LIFE   OF  HENKY  WILSON. 

scenic  beauty.  From  the  summits  of  Fiske  and  Pegan 
Hills  the  eye  enjoys  enchanting  prospects,  sweeping  from 
Fiske  Hill  over  the  waters  of  Cochituate  Lake  and  the 
handsome  buildings  of  the  village  ;  while  from  Pegan  it 
follows  the  meanderings  of  Charles  River  through  the 
valleys  of  Needham  and  of  Dedham,  and  rests  upon 
the  distant  spires  of  Boston  and  the  monument  on  Bunker 
Hill. 

In  passing  through  the  southern  section  of  the  town, 
Washington  once  remarked,  "  Nature  seems  to  have  been 
lavish  of  her  beauties  here."  It  was  at  the  point  where 
the  celebrated  John  Eliot  had  an  Indian  church,  and  taught, 
beneath  the  shade  of  an  outspreading  oak,  the  principles 
of  the  gospel  to  the  aborigines. 

At  the  time  of  Mr.  Wilson's  arrival,  the  town  contained 
about  a  thousand  people,  mostly  farmers  ;  and  at  the  cen 
tral  village  there  was  a  Congregational  church,  of  which 
the  Rev.  Erasmus  D.  Moore,  who  became  an  earnest  friend 
and  counsellor  of  Mr.  Wilson,  was  the  pastor.  There  was 
then  no  lawyer  in  the  place,  nor  any  need  of  one.  There 
was  but  little  culture,  enterprise,  or  aspiration.  Less  than 
eight  hundred  dollars  annually  were  appropriated  to  the 
support  of  public  schools ;  and  the  buildings  in  which  they 
were  taught  were  rude  and  comfortless. 

But  that  branch  of  industry  for  which  this  town  has 
since  become  so  celebrated  had  already  gained  a  foothold 
here.  A  few  enterprising  men  had  begun  to  manufacture 
shoes,  yet  on  a  very  limited  scale  and  capital,  for  the 
Southern  market.  Division  of  labor,  machinery,  and  those 
various  arts  and  appliances  which  render  this  business  at 
the  present  day  so  lucrative,  had  found  no  entrance  into 
the  workshop. 

Then,  instead  of  working  on  a  single  part,  each  work- 


HARD   WORK   AT   NATICK.  25 

man  made  the  entire  shoe.  It  was  called  a  "  brogan," 
and  was  sold  by  wholesale  at  the  rate  of  about  a  dollar 
per  pair.  The  process  of  making  was  slow  ;  the  teaming 
to  Boston  was  expensive  ;  and  hence  the  business  was  not 
specially  remunerative  nor  inviting.  Mr.  Wilson  was, 
however,  glad  to  find  employment.  Any  thing  was  better 
than  the  exhausting  drudgery  of  the  farm  he  left,  which 
afforded  him  very  little  leisure  either  for  recreation  of 
the  body,  or  cultivation  of  the  mind.  He  hired  himself 
at  once  to  Mr.  William  P.  Legro,  who  agreed,  for  the 
consideration  of  five  months'  labor,  to  teach  him  the  art 
of  making  shoes.  With  his  knife  and  hammer  he  set 
to  work  with  several  laborers  in  a  little  shop  in  the 
western  part  of  the  town  to  learn  his  trade  ;  but,  ere 
many  days  had  passed,  perceived  that  he  had  bargained 
away  his  time  incautiously ;  and  therefore  he  agreed 
with  his  employer,  for  the  consideration  of  the  sum  of 
fifteen  dollars,  to  release  him  from  his  obligation.  At 
the  end  of  seven  weeks,  he  began  working  for  himself. 
Anxious  to  obtain  money  for  an  education,  he  now  applied 
himself  to  shoemaking  with  unflinching  assiduity.  The 
very  first  day  after  leaving  Mr.  Legro,  he  made  eight 
pairs  of  shoes ;  and  very  soon  outsped  the  fastest  work 
man  in  rapidity  of  execution,  making  sometimes  two 
shoes  to  his  one.  He  used  to  labor  sixteen  hours  a 
day  ;  and  u  not  unfrequently,"  says  one  of  his  compan 
ions,  "  he  worked  all  night  and  two  days  in  succession 
without  sleep." 

"  He  is  a  very  good  young  man  ;  we  like  him  much,'* 
said  Mrs.  William  Perry,  with  whom  he  boarded  :  "  but  he 
keeps  us  all  awake  by  his  continual  pounding  through  the 
night." 

Once  lie  determined  to  make  fifty  pairs  of  shoes  without 


26  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

taking  any  sleep.  This  usually  required  the  labor  of  a 
week  ;  but  his  hand  and  eye,  as  we  have  said,  are  quick, 
and  therefore  lie  attempted  this  surprising  feat.  Forty- 
seven  pairs  and  a  half  he  actually  made  without  reposing  ; 
when  he  found,  in  spite  of  his  resistance,  sleep  at  length 
would  overpower  him  in  the  interim  between  the  raising 
and  striking  of  the  hammer  on  the  shoe  in  hand ;  and  so, 
reluctantly,  he  yielded  to  its  influence. 

There  is  something  touching  in  this  scene,  —  the  youth, 
smitten  u  by  the  wild  delight  of  knowing,"  sunk  in  sleep 
over  that  last  shoe.  Was  it  not  an  earnest  of  that  in 
domitable  energy  he  has  since  exhibited  in  the  halls  of 
Congress  ? 

On  the  19th  of  April,  1835,  Mr.  Wilson  heard  for  the 
first  time  the  eloquence  of  Edward  Everett  in  his  masterly 
oration  on  the  battle  of  Lexington,  and  was  inspired  by 
it  with  fresh  ardor  to  obtain  an  education  :  he  also  went 
on  foot  to  Boston  to  hear  Daniel  Webster  on  the  presenta 
tion  of  the  vase  at  the  Odeon,  and  listened  with  admiration 
to  the  voice  of  that  distinguished  statesman.  His  aspira 
tions  were  awakened  ;  but  what  hopes  had  he  —  an  un 
known,  friendless  shoemaker  —  any  right  to  entertain? 
He  returned  to  his  hard  toil,  to  think  and  to*  work  on  even 
to  the  very  limit  of  his  power. 

In  the  summer  of  1835  the  Boston  and  Worcester  Rail 
road  was  opened  through  the  central  village  of  Natick. 
The  coming  of  the  locomotive  engine  gradually  broke  up  the 
old  modes  of  thinking  and  of  manufacturing.  It  brought 
in  life,  light,  enterprise.  New  firms  were  soon  estab 
lished,  new  buildings  erected,  and  new  societies  organized 
Among  these  was  one,  which,  although  limited  as  to  the 
number  of  its  members,  had,  nevertheless,  a  lasting  in 
fluence  over  the  intellectual  character  of  the  community. 


DEBATING  SOCIETY.  27 

It  bore  the  name  of  "  The  Natick  Debating  Society.*'  It 
was  formed  in  the  winter  of  1835,  and  originally  had  but 
thirteen  members.  Prominent  among  these  were  Henry 
Wilson,  Alexander  W.  Thayer  (now  United-States  con 
sul  at  Trieste),  George  M.  Herring,  J.  B.  Mann,  Dr.  James 
Whitney,  and  Willard  A.  Wight.  The  design  of  the 
association  was  to  discuss,  either  in  speaking  or  in  writing, 
the  current  literary,  scientific,  or  political  questions  of 
the  day.  The  meetings  were  held  in  the  old  schoolhouse 
in  the  village,  generally  once,  and  sometimes  twice,  a  week. 
They  were  continued  until  1840,  when  the  society  was 
merged  in  the  Natick  Lyceum. 

To  this  little  assembly  of  disputants  Mr.  Wilson  resorted 
when  the  arduous  toils  of  the  day  were  ended;  and  here 
he  engaged  most  heartily  in  discussing  the  various  questions 
of  the  times,  especially  that  of  slavery,  which  was  then, 
through  mobs,  and  acts  of  violence,  to  some  extent,  receiv 
ing  the  attention  of  the  public.  Here,  in  this  debating 
society,  he  learned  to  "think  upon  his  feet;"  to  arrange  his 
thoughts  in  logical  order ;  to  detect  and  expose  the  sophis 
try  of  an  opponent;  to  settle  questions  by  solid  argument 
based  on  fact  instead  of  theory.  Here  he  acquired  skill 
in  parliamentary  practice,  and  in  a  measure  qualified  him 
self  for  a  seat  in  the  deliberative  assemblies  of  the  state 
and  nation.  This  debating  club  was  his  political  training- 
field  :  in  it  he  went  through  the  drill  for  coming  conflict ; 
to  it  he  owes,  in  some  degree,  that  cleverness  and  that 
steadiness  in  debate  for  which  he  is  distinguished.  His  as 
sociates  were  not  unfrequently  surprised  to  see  him  exhibit 
such  familiarity  with  the  history  of  his  country ;  and  al 
though  he  trembled  when  he  spoke,  and  sometimes  deviated 
from  the  principles  of  Lindley  Murray's  Grammar,  they 
felt  and  said  that  he  had  power  to  command  the  attention 


28  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON 

of  his  fellow-men  on  a  broader  field,  and  to  render  signal 
service  to  his  state  and  nation. 

Ou  one  evening  he  had  spoken  but  indifferently  on  a 
certain  question,  and  incurred  the  ridicule  of  his  oppo 
nents.  This  aroused  him ;  and,  rising  again,  he  broke 
into  a  strain  of  eloquence  which  electrified  his  hearers. 
They  proposed  that  the  question  should  be  taken  up  again 
at  the  next  meeting ;  and  he  then  discussed  it  in  a  style  so 
masterly,  that  his  opponents  ever  afterwards  made  their 
attacks  with  more  consideration,  and  admitted  that  "  the 
fire  and  the  force  "  to  do  great  things  were  slumbering  in 
his  soul. 

As  to  himself,  so  to  the  other  members,  this  society 
proved  to  be  of  signal  service.  Almost  every  person  who 
belonged  to  it  has  attained  distinction  in  his  chosen  sphere 
of  life,  and  now  exercises  healthful  influence  over  the 
destinies  of  his  fellow-men.  Some  have  been  senators ; 
some  have  written  useful  books ;  some  adorn  the  liberal 
professions :  all  are  intelligent,  honorable,  and  progressive 
men.  May  not  this  debating  club  be  cited  as  an  example 
deserving  the  attention  of  the  working -people  of  our 
country  ? 

On  coming  to  live  at  Natick,  Mr.  Wilson  felt  at  once 
the  need  of  books.  There  were  no  libraries  in  the  place 
like  those  h'3  left  at  Farmington,  whereby  he  might  gratify 
his  appetite  for  reading;  and  he  had  not  the  means  to  pur 
chase  what  he  wanted. 

There  was,  however,  an  old  town-library  of  about  two 
hundred  volumes,  then  in  the  keeping  of  Deacon  William 
Coolidge,  a  man  of  great  simplicity  of  manner,  heart,  and 
doctrine.  His  wife  was  of  the  same  spirit,  pious,  kind, 
obliging.  Of  the  old  Puritanic  style  of  people  they  were 
models;  rigorous  in  opinion,  yet  indulgent  in  respect  to 


VISIT    TO   WASHINGTON.  29 

those  who  disagreed  with  them,  and  ever  ready  to  encour 
age  such  as  had  an  aspiration  for  improvement.  In  order, 
then,  to  gain  access  to  the  books  in  this  old  library,  and  to 
enjoy  the  society  of  these  good  people,  Mr.  Wilson  pre 
vailed  on  them  to  receive  him  as  a  boarder  in  their  family. 
Here  he  found  generous  sympathy,  wise  religious  counsel, 
and  a  happy  home.  With  them  he  attended  church 
and  social  meetings;  by  them  he  was  treated  as  a  so.i. 
Amongst  his  firmest  friends  at  this  period  Mr.  Wilson 
doubtless  reckons  Deacon  William  Coolidge  and  the  Rev. 
E.  D.  Moore,  who  ever  took  the  liveliest  interest  in 
his  welfare  ;  who  clearly  saw,  that,  though  he  was  the 
son  of  toil,  he  was  the  son  of  genius  also ;  and,  by  kind 
advice,  encouraged  him  to  bring  out  the  manhood  of  his 
nature. 

By  his  incessant  labor  in  the  workshop,  supplemented 
by  his  literary  toil  at  night,  Mr.  Wilson's  health  became 
so  much  impaired,  that  it  seemed  to  him  imperative  that  he 
should  take  some  relaxation.  The  laws  of  health  were 
not  well  understood  by  him,  and  he  had  continued  working 
on  unseasonably,  until  his  strength  gave  out,  his  color  fled, 
and  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs  commenced.  He  had  laid  by 
several  hundred  dollars,  with  which  he  hoped  to  acquire  such 
an  education  as  would  enable  him  to  enter  on  the  practice 
of  the  law.  But,  his  health  continuing  to  decline,  his  medi 
cal  adviser  recommended,  that,  before  commencing  on  his 
studies,  he  should  make  a  journey  to  the  South.  He  there 
fore,  in  the  month  of  May,  1836,  set  out  for  Washington. 
The  changing  scenes,  the  rest  from  toil,  the  thought  that 
he  was  soon  to  look  upon  the  Capitol  and  the  lawmakers 
of  the  nation,  was  the  very  medicine  which  he  needed. 

Passing  through  Maryland,  he  for  the  first  time  saw 
slaves  of  both  sexes  toiling  half-naked  in  the  fields,  and 

3* 


30  LIFE  OF  HE:NRY  WILSON. 

expressed  his  opinion  to  a  gentleman  in  the  cars  thai 
slavery  was  an  evil.  The  gentleman  replied  to  him  with 
some  severity,  that  "  he  could  not  be  permitted  to  express 
such  sentiments  in  the  State  of  Maryland." 

The  thought  was  startling,  that,  in  a  land  of  free 
dom,  his  own  tongue  was  fettered  as  was  the  bondman's 
body.  ' 

On  arriving  at  Washington,  May  15,  he  entered  the  Cupi- 
tol,  listened  to  the  stormy  debates  in  Congress,  and  saw 
the  petitions  of  the  philanthropic  men  and  women  of  the 
country  against  the  traffic  in  human  flesh  and  sinews  laid 
upon  the  table.  He  saw  Mr.  Pinckney's  infamous  resolu 
tion  against  the  right  of  petition  forced  through  the  House 
of  Representatives  under  the  pressure  of  the  previous  ques 
tion,  and  Mr.  Callioun's  Incendiary  Publication  Bill  pass 
one  of  its  stages  in  the  Senate  by  the  casting  vote  of  Mr. 

£5  «r  O 

Van  Buren,  the  vice-president.  He  saw  the  subserviency 
of  Northern  politicians  to  the  domination  of  the  South. 
He  grasped  at  once  the  commanding  question  of  America. 
Mr.  Wilson  remained  at  Washington  until  about  the  mid 
dle  of  June,  boarding  on  Capitol  Hill,  and  sitting  at  table 
with  Senator  Morris  of  Ohio,  who  fearlessly  opposed  the 
advocates  of  human  servitude. 

He  visited  Williams's  notorious  slave-pen  on  the  corner 
of  Seventh  and  B  Streets;  he  saw  the  poor  people  sold, 
manacled,  separated,  and  marched  away  to  toil  and  suf 
fering  beneath  the  whip  of  unfeeling  taskmasters  at  the 
South.  His  sympathies  for  the  bondmen,  his  indignation 
against  the  cruel  system  of  human  traffic  carried  on  hard 
by  the  Capitol  of  a  nation  boastful  of  its  freedom,  were 
re -awakened,  so  that  he  then  and  there  determined, 
that,  come  weal  or  woe,  the  powers  which  God  had  given 
him  should  thenceforth  be  devoted  to  the  destruction  of 


VISIT   TO   WASHINGTON.  31 

an  institution  so  revolting  to  every  instinct  of  humanity, 
so  inconsistent  with  the  declaration  of  our  national  inde 
pendence,  and  so  antagonistic  to  the  whole  teaching  and 
spirit  of  the  gospel. 

This  is  the  key  to  Mr.  Wilson's  political  career ;  and  by 
it  his  public  acts  must  be  interpreted.  To  this  principle 
of  human  freedom,  deeply  embedded  in  his  heart  and  run 
ning  through  every  fibre  of  his  intellectual  character,  he 
has  held,  through  all  the  political  changes  in  the  state  and 
nation,  with  unflinching  steadiness :  so  that,  as  one  has 
truly  said,  "  He  floated  into  power  upon  the  wave  of 
principle  ;  while  others  timorously  declined  to  take  that 
wave,  and  now  lie  strewn  as  wrecks  along  the  barren 
strands  of  compromise  and  expediency." 

Alluding  to  this  memorable  visit  to  Washington,  the 
scenes  then  witnessed,  and  the  resolution  formed,  Mr. 
Wilson,  in  an  address  at  Philadelphia,  1803,  observes,  — 

"  I  saw  slavery  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  flag  that 
waved  over  the  Capitol.  I  saw  the  slave-pen,  and  men, 
women,  and  children  herded  for  the  markets  of  the  far 
South;  and  at  the  table  at* which  sat  Senator  Morris  of 
Ohio,  then  the  only  avowed  champion  of  freedom  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  I  expressed  my  abhorrence  of 
slavery  and  the  slave-traffic  in  the  capital  of  this  democratic 
and  Christian  republic.  I  was  promptly  told  that  '  Senator 
Morris  might  be  protected  in  speaking  against  slavery  in  the 
Senate  ;  but  that  I  would  not  be  protected  in  uttering  such 
sentiments.'  I  left  the  capital  of  my  country  with  the 
unalterable  resolution  to  give  all  that  I  had,  and  all  that  I 
hoped  to  have,  of  power,  to  the  cause  of  emancipation  in 
America  ;  and  I  have  tried  to  make  that  resolution  a  liv 
ing  faith  from  that  day  to  this  [applause].  My  political 
associates  from  that  hour  to  the  present  have  always  been 


32  LIFE  OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

guided  by  my  opposition  to  slavery  in  every  form,  and  they 
always  will  be  so  guided.  In  twenty  years  of  political  life 
I  may  have  committed  errors  of  judgment ;  but  I  have 
ever  striven  '  to  write  my  name,'  in  the  words  of  William 
Leggett,  4  in  ineffaceable  letters  on  the  abolition  record.' 
Standing  here  to  night  in  the  presence  of  veteran  anti- 
slavery  men,  I  can  say  in  all  the  sincerity  of  conviction, 
that  I  would  rather  have  it  written  upon  the  humble  stone 
that  shall  mark  the  spot  where  I  shall  repose  when  life's 
labors  are  done,  4  He  did  what  he  could  to  break  the  fetters 
of  the  slave,'  than  to  have  it  recorded  that  he  filled  the 
highest  stations  of  honor  in  the  gift  of  his  countrymen." 

On  returning  home  from  Washington,  Mr.  Wilson,  hav 
ing  then  about  seven  hundred  dollars  in  cash,  went  to 
Strafford  in  New  Hampshire,  and,  on  the  first  day  of  July, 
began  upon  a  course  of  study  in  the  academy  at  that  place, 
then  under  the  tuition  of  Mr.  Dickey.  He  was  induced 
to  go  to  Strafford  because  it  was  near  his  early  home,  and 
also  because  one  of  his  early  friends,  W.  W.  Roberts,  a 
young  man  of  remarkable  ability,  was  then  a  student 
there.  These  two  scholars  were  of  congenial  tastes  and 

o 

aspirations  ;  and  the  death  of  Mr.  Roberts  in  his  first  year 
at  Dartmouth  College  was  an  event  of  which  Mr.  Wilson 
speaks  to  this  day  with  sorrow  and  regret. 

In  delightful  sympathy  with  this  fine  scholar,  Mr.  Wilson 
made  the  most  of  his  time  and  privileges  at  this  academy, 
pursuing  such  a  course  of  study  as  would  enable  him  to 
engage  in  teaching- school  in  the  coming  winter.  At  the 
dree  of  the  scholastic  term,  he,  at  the  public  exhibition, 
spoke  in  the  affirmative  on  the  question,  "  Ought  slavery  to 
be  abolished  in  the  District  of  Columbia  ?  " 

It  demanded  courage  in  New  England  even  then  to  ex 
press  such  views  on  slavery  as  he  was  known  to  entertain. 


STRUGGLES  FOE,  AN"  EDUCATION.  31 

To  be  called  an  abolitionist  was  a  reproach  which  few  could 
bear.  The  antislavery  student  met  the  question  boldly, 
presenting  cogent  arguments  for  the  immediate  emancipa 
tion  of  the  bondmen  at  the  seat  of  government. 

"  That  man,"  said  some  of  the  good  people  who  then 
heard  the  speaker,  "  will  make  a  minister." 

It  is  remarkable  that  he  himself,  after  a  struggle  of  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  should  have  introduced  the  measure 
into  Congress  which  realized  the  aspirations  he  expressed 
in  his  first  effort  on  the  stage  of  the  academy,  in  the  first 
public  speech  he  ever  made.  In  February,  1872,  it  so 
happened  that  Mr.  Wilson  addressed  the  citizens  of  Straf- 
ford  assembled  on  the  very  same  spot  where  lie  made  his 
maiden  speech  in  1836  ;  and  some  were  present  who  re 
membered  it,  and  congratulated  him  on  the  fruition  of  his 
hopes. 

Anxious  to  avail  himself  of  the  instruction  of  Miss 
Eastman,  daughter  of  his  benefactress  at  Farmington,  Mr. 
Wilson  entered,  in  the  autumn,  the  academy  at  Wolfs- 
borough,  on  Winnipiseogee  Lake  ;  and,  pursuing  his  studies 
here  one  term  with  unabated  zeal,  he  engaged  and  taught 
in  the  winter  one  of  the  district  schools  in  that  delight 
ful  town.  The  schoolhouse  was  situated  on  Mink  Brook, 
and  was  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  village.  This 
term  of  teaching  served  to  bring  his  literary  acquisitions 
into  practice,  and  to  fix  the  rudiments  of  learning  indeli 
bly  in  memory.  His  leisure  moments  were  devoted  to  the 
prosecution  of  his  studies.  The  Rev.  Thomas  P.  Beach, 
afterwards  imprisoned  at  Newburyport  for  disturbing  a 
religious  meeting,  was  of  signal  service  to  him  while  a  resi 
dent  of  this  town.  In  the  spring  following  (1837),  Mr. 
Wilson  commenced  study  at  the  academy  in  Concord,  then 
under  charge  of  the  Rev.  T.  P.  D.  Stone,  a  gentleman  of 


34  LIFE  OF  HEHKY  WILSON. 

ability,  who  had  given  much  attention  to  the  art  of  elocu 
tion.  Here  Mr.  Wilson's  principal  recitations  were  in 
Euclid's  "  Geometry,"  Newman's  "  Rhetoric,"  "  Mental 
Philosophy,"  Butler's  "  Analogy,"  and  "  The  Geography 
of  the  Heavens."  These  and  kindred  branches  he  pur 
sued  with  the  same  untiring  assiduity  he  had  manifested 
in  the  workshop  when  toiling  for  money  for  his  education. 
Study  with  him  meant  business  ;  and,  with  his  quick  per 
ceptions  and  retentive  memory,  he  soon  left  his  fellow- 
students  far  behind.  His  special  forte  was  extemporane 
ous  speaking  and  debate  ;  and  here  he  found  in  Mr.  Stone 
an  excellent  instructor.  When  in  debate,  he  seemed  to 
hold  the  whole  history  of  the  country  in  his  memory  ;  and 
woe  to  his  opponent  who  had  not  power  to  wield  the  same 
effective  weapon ! 

The  principles  advocated  in  "  The  Liberator  "  were  now 
slowly  gaining  favor  with  the  young  men  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  and  a  State  antislavery  convention  was  held  by 
them  this  year  at  Concord.  Mr.  Wilson  was  chosen  a 
delegate  to  this  body  ;  and  here  he  made  an  earnest  and 
able  speech  on  behalf  of  human  freedom,  characterizing 
slavery  as  an  infraction  of  the  laws  of  God  and  man,  a 
national  dishonor,  and  an  impediment  to  the  peace  and 
progress  of  the  people. 

While  pursuing  his  studies  at  Concord  in  the  summer 
term  of  1837,  a  gentleman  in  Farmington,  to  whom  he 
had  loaned  the  money  he  had  earned  by  such  incessant 
toil  at  Natick  for  the  expenses  of  an  education,  failed,  and 
left  him  penniless.  This  was  a  bitter  disappointment 
He  must  give  up  his  cherished  plans  ;  the  workshop  must 
again  be  his  academy,  and  hard  toil  his  teacher. 

At  this  crisis  in  his  affairs  he  found  a  sincere  friend  in 
Mr.  Samuel  Avery  of  Wolfsborough,  who  kindly  offered 


MR.   WILSON  AS  A  MANUFACTURER.  35 

to  board  him  on  credit  just  as  long  as  he  might  wish  to 
attend  the  academy  in  that  town.  Accepting  his  friend's 
proposal,  he  returned  to  the  academy  at  Wolfsborough, 
where  he  spent  the  autumn  of  1837,  closing  in  with  study 
just  as  if  his  final  opportunity  for  it  had  come.  At  the 
expiration  of  the  term  he  started  once  more  for  the  town  of 
Natick,  and,  on  his  arrival,  had  less  money  than  when  first 
he  came  to  it  on  foot  four  years  before.  His  integrity  and 
ability  had,  however,  gained  him  many  friends  ;  and  he 
was  at  once  appointed  teacher  of  the  centre  district  school 
for  the  ensuing  winter.  He  taught  successfully ;  for  he 
had  tact  to  govern,  information  to  impart,  and  glowing 
words  to  render  it  acceptable.  To  inspire  is  to  instruct ; 
and  this  he  could  not  fail  to  do.  The  meetings  of  the 
debating  club  he  faithfully  attended,  and  as  faithfully 
employed  the  evenings  not  so  spent  in  study.  On  finish 
ing  his  school,  and  paying  off  his  debts,  he  had  twelve 
dollars  left ;  and  on  this  capital  he  began  to  manufacture 
shoes  for  the  Southern  market.  In  this  business  he  con 
tinued  steadily  employed,  except  when  public  duties  drew 
him  away,  for  ten  consecutive  years.  At  first  he  occu 
pied  Mr.  David  Whitney's  shop  ;  but  afterwards  removed 
to  one  on  Central  Street,  where  his  dwelling-house  now 
stands. 

During  the  ten  years  which  cover  Mr.  Wilson's  business- 
life,  the  town  of  Natick  made  remarkable  advancement  in 
respect  to  population,  wealth,  and  enterprise.  Division 
of  labor,  and  machinery  to  some  extent,  were  introduced 
into  the  manufactories,  and  goods  of  a  better  quality  and 
finish  were  sent  forth.  In  these  improvements,  as  well  as 
in  the  general  prosperity  of  the  village,  Mr.  Wilson  took 
an  active  part.  He  attended  the  social  gatherings  of  the 
people,  identified  himpelf  with  them  in  their  joys  and  sor- 


86  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

rows,  and  lent  a  helping  hand,  as  well  as  word,  to  every 
scheme  for  the  promotion  of  the  public  good. 

As  a  business-man  he  was  upright,  courteous,  fair,  and 
manly,  ever  taking  sides  and  sympathizing  with  the  work 
ing-people.  He  paid  his  laborers  promptly  ;  he  encour 
aged  them  with  friendly  words,  and  made  them  feel  that 
they,  as  well  as  he  himself,  had  rights  to  be  respected. 
He  had  their  confidence  and  esteem  ;  for  every  one  of  them 
knew  that  Mr.  Wilson  would  share  with  him  his  very  last 
dollar  before  seeing  him  come  to  real  want.  In  one  year 
(1847)  Mr.  Wilson  manufactured  a  hundred  and  twen 
ty-two  thousand  pairs  of  shoes,  employing  a  hundred 
and  nine  workmen ;  and  the  whole  number  of  pairs  of 
shoes  made  by  him  while  engaged  in  business  was  six 
hundred  and  sixty-four  thousand.  In  general,  he  sold 
these  shoes  to  Southern  dealers,  who  sometimes  visited  him 
at  Natick  to  make  their  purchases.  One  of  them  once 
wrote  to  him,  that,  having  failed  in  trade,  he  was  unable  to 
pay  him  more  than  fifty  cents  on  a  dollar.  On  looking 
over  his  creditor's  assets,  and  seeing  that  they  included 
several  slaves  that  would  be  put  into  the  market,  the 
honest  manufacturer  immediately  sent  him  word  that  he 
could  not  consistently  take  any  money  coming  from  the 
sale  of  his  fellow-men  ;  and  thus,  by  his  adherence  to  his 
principles,  he  lost  seven  or  eight  hundred  dollars  in  this 
failure. 

Generous  and  obliging  to  a  fault,  Mr.  Wilson  never 
stooped  to  questionable  means  for  making  money  ;  nor  was 
he,  either  by  his  taste  or  temperament,  well  adapted  to  the 
turns  and  tricks  of  trade.  He  had  no  wish,  no  faculty,  to 
hoard  up  gold.  He  went  into  the  shoe-business  by  neces 
sity  :  his  thought  was  running  along  another  plane.  His 
aspiration  was  to  transact  bu8iness  on  a  broader  scale ;  to 


ME.   WILSON  AS   A  MANUFACTURER.  37 

grapple  with  questions  that  bore  upon  the  vital  interests 
of  the  working-men  throughout  the  country.  Hence  he 
closed  the  manufacture  of  shoes  without  much  gain  or 
much  regret,  and  entered  on  that  broader  sphere  of  action, 
for  which  Nature,  by  her  liberal  gifts,  had  evidently  in 
tended  him. 

4 


CHAPTER   III. 

MR.  WILSON'S  PASTORS. AN  ADDRESS. HIS  MARRIAGE.—; 

HIS  HOME.  —  TEMPERANCE. HARRISON  CAMPAIGN. 

HIS    COURSE    IN    THE    GENERAL    COURT. 


The  Rev.  E.  D.  Moore:  his  Views,  and  Regard  for  Mr.  Wilson.  — The  Rev. 
Samuel  Hunt  :  his  Influence.  —  Bible-Class.  —  Presentation  of  a  Watch.  — 
Marriage.  —  Mrs.  Wilson's  Character.  —  Her  Influence  over  her  Husband.  — 
Their  House  and  Home.  —  Birth  of  a  Son.  —  Mr.  Wilson's  Regard  for  Tem 
perance.  —  Speech.  —  Candidate  for  General  Court.  —  Defeated  on  the  Fif 
teen-gallon  Law.  — Enters  the  Harrison  Campaign.  —  General  Enthusiasm  of 
the  People.  —  He  makes  his  first  Political  Speech.  —  Addresses  more  than 
Sixty  Audiences.  —  His  Manner.  —  Elected  to  General  Court.  —  Story  of  the 
Farmer.  —  His  Industry.  —  His  Views  of  Slavery.  —  Advocates  Repeal  of  Law 
against  Intermarriage  of  Blacks  and  Whites.  —  Defeated  as  Candidate  for 
Senate.  — Elected  to  that  Body  the  Next  Year,  and  for  1845.  —  Contends  for 
the  Right  of  Colored  Children  to  a  Seat  in  the  Public  Schools.  —  Remarks 
thereon. — Advance  in  Public  Sentiment.  —  Mr.  Wilson's  Mission. 


BY  the  dismissal  of  Rev.  E.  D.  Moore  from  his  pasto 
ral  office  at  Natick,  and  by  his  consequent  departure 
from  that  town,  Mr.  Wilson  lost  the  daily  counsel  and  en 
couragement  of  a  sincere  and  valuable  friend,  who  sympa 
thized  with  him  in  his  political  views,  and  had  confidence 
in  his  ultimate  success.  The  kindest  social  relations  still 
subsist  between  these  two  gentlemen  ;  and  it  is  doubtless 
gratifying  in  a  high  degree  to  Mr.  Wilson's  earliest  living 
pastor  to  see  his  expectations  in  regard  to  one  of  his  society 
in  Natick  so  fully  realized. 

88 


39 

The  Rev.  Samuel  Hunt,  an  able  minister  and  a  steady 
advocate  of  human  freedom,  succeeded  Mr.  Moore  in  July, 
1839,  and  continued  as  Mr.  Wilson's  pastor  until  1850. 
He  also  felt  a  profound  regard  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of 
his  distinguished  parishioner,  and  aided  him  in  his  research 
es.  He  rejoiced  in  the  noble  stand  which  his  friend  took 
against  the  aggressions  of  proslavery  power,  and  labored 
with  the  clergy  and  the  churches  of  his  association  to 
sustain  him.  He  was  well  aware  of  Mr.  Wilson's  intel 
lectual  energy  and  growth,  of  his  integrity,  of  his  sincere 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  freedom  ;  and  he  predicted  his 
political  success.  He  endeavored  so  to  guide  him  as  to 
make  it  sure. 

Under  the  faithful  ministry  of  Mr.  Hunt,  the  mind  of 
Mr.  Wilson  became  seriously  impressed  with  the  moment 
ous  relations  between  himself  and  his  Maker,  so  that  he  not 
only  listened  with  profound  attention  to  the  instructions 
of  the  sacred  desk,  but  sometimes  took  an  active  part  in 
religious  meetings.  He  taught  for  several  years  a  Bible- 
class  in  the  sabbath  school  with  great  acceptance  ;  and  the 
members  of  that  class  are  now,  for  the  most  part,  intelli 
gent  and  progressive  members  of  the  church. 

On  his  part,  Mr.  Wilson  encouraged  and  supported 
Mr.  Hunt  in  the  arduous  labors  of  his  ministry  :  he  sym 
pathized  with  him  both  in  joy  and  sorrow ;  and  the  tie 
that  early  bound  their  hearts  together  still  remains  un 
broken.  On  the  presentation  of  a  watch  to  Mr.  Hunt  at 
his  retirement  from  his  pastorate  at  Natick,  Mr.  Wilson 
made  the  following  beautiful  and  affectionate  address :  — 

"  RESPECTED  FRIEND,  —  The  relations  which  have  ex 
isted  between  us  for  eleven  years  having  now  been  dis 
solved,  we  have  assembled  here  to-night  to  express  our  high 
appreciation  of  your  services  as  a  pastor,  our  profound  re- 


40  LIFE  OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

spect  for  your  character  as  a  man,  and  our  personal  regard 
for  you  as  a  friend.  We  are  here  also  to  pass  a  few  fleeting 
moments  in  your  society ;  to  exchange  with  you  a  few 
parting  words  ;  to  take  you  once  more  by  the  hand ;  and, 
with  hearts  overflowing  with  emotion,  to  bid  you  farewell. 

"  Could  these  friends  have  controlled  events,  the  chain 
that  bound  us  together  in  the  relation  of  pastor  and  people 
would  have  remained  unbroken  :  you  would  have  contin 
ued  with  us  and  of  us.  Having  passed  your  days  with  us 
in  the  performance  of  your  duties,  participating  in  our  joys 
and  sharing  in  our  sorrows,  when  your  '  race  of  existence 
was  run,'  we  would  have  you  repose  in  the  bosom  of  our 
mother-earth  with  the  people  of  your  early  choice,  —  in 
yonder  spot,  hallowed  and  consecrated  as  the  last  resting- 
place  of  this  people  and  their  children. 

"  But  it  has  been  ordered  otherwise.  We  must  acqui 
esce  in  an  event  we  could  not  avert.  You  are  to  leave  us 
to  seek  other  fields  of  labor,  to  form  new  relations,  tc 
gather  around  you  other  friends.  But,  sir,  wherever  you 
may  go,  be  assured  that  you  will  bear  with  you  our  warm 
est  wishes  that  Heaven  will  shower  upon  your  pathway  its 
choicest  blessings.  Wherever  in  the  providence  of  God  you 
may  be  summoned  to  labor,  may  friends  —  true-hearted, 
steadfast  friends  —  cluster  around  you  to  cheer  you  onward 
in  every  beneficent  effort  to  advance  the  cause  of  religion 
and  humanity ! 

"  You  will  leave  behind  you,  sir,  in  retiring  from  the  place 
you  have  so  long  filled,  many  evidences  of  your  deep  and 
abiding  interest  in  our  present  prosperity  and  future  welfare. 
The  recollection  of  your  many  acts  of  kindness  will  be  cher 
ished  by  us  with  unabated  affection  until  the  hearts  upon 
which  these  acts  are  engraved  shall  cease  to  beat  forever. 

"Desirous  that  you  should  carry  with  you  some  parting 


MR.    WILSON'S   PASTORS.  41 

token  of  our  friendship,  your  friends  have  purchased  the 
watch  I  hold  in  my  hand,  and  have  commissioned  me  to 
present  it  to  you.  In  their  behalf  I  beg  you  to  accept  it. 
Take  it,  sir ;  cherish  it,  not  for  its  intrinsic  worth  (for  it  is 
of  slight  value),  but  as  a  trifling  tribute  to  your  worth,  and 
3  memento  of  the  respect,  esteem,  and  affection  of  its 
donors.  As  a  memorial  of  our  friendship,  I  trust  you  will 
not  consider  it  altogether  valueless.  It  will  not  beat  more 
accurately  the  passing  moments  than  will  the  pulsations 
of  our  hearts  ever  beat  responsive  to  the  friendship  we 
entertain  for  you. 

"  We  fondly  indulge  the  hope,  sir,  that  in  after-life, 
amid  its  pressing  cares  and  duties,  it  will  sometimes  remind 
you  of  the  friends  of  those 

'  Earlier  days  and  calmer  hours, 
When  heart  with  heart  delights  to  blend/ 

In  the  calm  and  quiet  of  your  study,  where  the  world  and 
its  cares  are  shut  out,  as  the  ear  shall  hear  it  beat  the  fleet 
ing  seconds,  or  the  eye  see  it  mark  the  passing  hours,  may 
it  recall  to  mind  reminiscences  of  the  past !  —  recollections 
of  these  scenes ;  of  this  place,  where  were  passed  the  first 
years  of  your  ministry ;  where  were  spent  so  many  years 
of  your  early  manhood,  —  that  portion  of  existence  when 
impressions  are  most  indelibly  engraved  upon  the  mind  and 
heart ;  where  your  children  were  born  ;  and  where  your 
home  was  blessed  and  made  joyous  by  the  gnice,  love,  and 
piety  of  the  wife  of  your  bosom,  —  the  pure  and  gentle 
being,  the  loved  and  lost  one, who  now  sleeps  far  away  amid 
the  scenes  of  her  youth,  but  whose  memory  will  ever  be 
fondly  cherished  by  this  people  ;  for 

*  None  knew  her  but  to  love  her, 
Nor  named  her  but  to  praise.'  " 
4* 


42  LIFE   OF   HENEY  WILSON. 

On  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  October,  1840,  Mr.  Wilson 
was  united  in  marriage,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hunt,  with  Miss 
Harriet  Malvina  Howe  of  Natick.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  Mr.  Amasa  and  Mrs.  Mary  (Toombs)  Howe,  and  was 
descended  on  her  mother's  side  from  Mr.  Daniel  Toombs, 
an  early  settler  of  the  town  of  Hopkinton.  She  was  a 
lady  of  good  education,  refined  in  sentiment,  gentle  in 
manner,  and  remarkable  for  the  sweetness  of  her  disposi 
tion.  By  her  unostentatious  way  of  doing  good,  she  made 
religion  lovely.  Her  thoughts  were  noble  ;  and  her  influ 
ence  upon  the  society  in  which  she  moved  was  like  the 
fragrance  of  flowers.  She  could  not  but  make  her  home 

o 

happy  ;  and  her  husband  had  a  just  appreciation  of  her 
excellence.  To  him,  in  his  toils  and  trials,  her  clear  voice 
was  an  inspiration.  In  her  he  beheld  a  pattern  of  true 
womanhood,  and  for  her  sake  he  longed  to  deserve  well  of 
his  country.  To  her  sweet  influence  over  him  may  be  in 
part  attributed  that  delicate  and  profound  respect  which  he 
entertains  for  woman,  that  sincere  regard  which  he  mani 
fests  for  her  intellectual  and  social  elevation.  His  ideal  of 
womanly  virtue  and  devotion  was  realized  in  her  pure  and 
lovely  life  of  trust  and  duty. 

Three  or  four  years  subsequent  to  his  marriage,  Mr.  Wil 
son  built  on  Central  Street,  in  Natick,  the  neat  and  commo 
dious  dwelling-house  which  he  has  since  occupied.  It  is 
furnished  with  republican  simplicity,  yet  with  elegance 
and  taste.  To  its  hospitalities  his  friends  and  neighbors 
always  find  a  cordial  welcome  ;  and  the  absence  of  luxury 
and  parade  is  more  than  compensated  by  smiles  of  cheer 
fulness,  and  words  of  good.  will.  On  the  eleventh  day  of 
November,  1846,  the  hearts  of  the  parents  were  gladdened 
by  the  birth  of  a  son,  whom  they  named  Henry  Hamilton. 
He  was  their  only  child. 


TEMPERANCE.  43 

In  principle  and  in  practice,  Mr.  Wilson  has  always  been 
opposed  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage; 
and  to  his  strictly  temperate  habits  may  in  part  be  ascribed 
that  robust  health  and  physical  strength  which  he  now  so 
eminently  possesses.  As  early  as  1831  he  joined  a  tem 
perance  society  in  Farmington ;  and  in  public  and  in  private 
he  has  erer  exerted  his  influence  to  dissuade  his  fellow-men 
fiom  the  use  of  stimulating  drink. 

In  a  speech  in  Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  April,  1867, 
he  said,  — 

"  I  shall  strive  ever  and  always  to  promote  and  advance 
that  great  cause  of  our  common  humanity.  It  is  no  merit 
in  me  that  has  made  me  a  life-long  friend  of  temperance. 
God  in  his  providence  gave  me  no  taste,  no  desire,  for  in 
toxicating  liquors ;  and  every  day  of  my  life,  as  I  grow  older 
and  see  the  measureless  evils  of  drunkenness,  I  thank  my 
God  that  he  gave  me  no  desire  for  that  which  degrades 
and  levels  down  our  common  humanity. 

"  From  my  cradle  to  this  hour  I  have  seen,  felt,  realized 
the  curse  of  intemperance.  When  my  eyes  first  saw  the 
light,  when  I  came  to  recognize  any  thing,  I  saw  and  felt 
some  of  the  evils  of  intemperance  ;  and  all  my  life  long 
to  this  hour,  and  now,  my  heart  has  been  burdened  with 
anxieties  for  those  of  my  kith  and  kin  that  I  loved  dearly. 
With  no  desire  for  the  intoxicating  cup,  with  the  evils  of 
intemperance  about  and  around  me,  and  with  a  life  bur- 
'lened  with  anxieties  for  dear  and  loved  ones,  it  is  no 
wonder,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  I  have  abhorred  drunk 
enness,  while  I  have  loved  and  pitied  its  victims." 

Aware  of  his  regard  for  temperance,  and  having  confi 
dence  in  his  ability  as  a  thinker,  his  friends  in  Natick,  ad 
vocating  what  was  known  as  the  "  Fifteen-gallon  Law," 
pres'ented  his  name  in  1839  as  a  candidate  for  the  General 


44  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

Court.  He  failed  by  a  very  few  votes  of  an  election,  and 
continued  quietly  manufacturing  shoes,  and  studying  the 
condition  of  his  country.  No  representative  was  sent  that 
year  from  Natick  ;  and  the  party  in  opposition  to  that  law 
placed  Marcus  Morton  in  the  executive  chair  of  the  State. 

In  1840  occurred  the  celebrated  presidential  campaign, 
in  which  William  Henry  Harrison,  u  the  hero  of  the 
Thames  and  the  Tippecanoe,"  was  brought  forward  by 
the  Whigs  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Van  Buren,  then  president. 
The  experiments  of  the  government  upon  the  currency 
had  embarrassed  the  financial  operations  of  the  country ; 
had  seriously  affected  the  industrial  interests  of  the  North, 
and  reduced  the  wages  of  the  working-people.  Hard  times 
came  on.  The  laboring-classes  murmured  against  the 
measures  of  the  government,  and  keenly  criticised  the 
course  of  the  president  and  his  cabinet.  Mr.  Wilson,  ever 
on  the  side  of  the  working-men,  felt  the  pressure,  and  saw 
the  ruinous  tendency  of  Mr.  Van  Buren's  financial  policy ; 
and,  although  he  had  hitherto  sympathized  with  the  Demo 
cratic  party,  now  came  prominently  forward  with  the 
Whigs,  and  espoused  the  cause  of  Mr.  Harrison.  "  Hav 
ing  entered  life  on  the  working-man's  side,"  says  the  au 
thor  of  "  Men  of  our  Times,"  "  and  having  known  by  his 
experience  the  working-man's  trials,  temptations,  and  hard 
struggles,  he  felt  the  sacredness  of  a  poor  man's  labor,  and 
entered  public  life  with  a  heart  to  take  the  part  of  the  toil 
ing  and  the  oppressed." 

Up  to  that  period,  no  political  campaign  in  this  country 
had  so  aroused  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people.  Mass-meet 
ings  were  held  in  churches,  halls,  and  groves ;  log-cabins 
were  erected,  and  sometimes  mounted  on  wheels,  and  drawn 
from  town  to  town ;  banners  with  mottoes  were  unfolded, 
and  immense  processions  of  all  ranks  and  classes  bearing 


HAKKISON  CAMPAIGN.  45 

torchlights  were  formed.  The  ablest  speakers  took  the 
stand ;  and  eloquence  and  patriotic  songs  set  forth  the  vir 
tues  and  exploits  of  "  the  hero  of  North  Bend  "  before  the 
people. 

"  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too  "  rang  as  a  war-cry  through 
the  Union.  Mr.  Wilson  shared  in  the  enthusiasm.  He 
studied  well  the  course  of  legislation  as  presented  in  "  The 
Washington  Globe,"  and  made  his  first  campaign-speech 
in  the  Methodist  meeting-house  at  Natick  in  opposition  to 
Mr.  Amasa  Walker,  who  was  an  advocate  of  a  specie  cur 
rency  and  of  the  general  policy  of  the  national  adminis 
tration.  The  ability  of  Mr.  Wilson  as  a  public  speaker 
was  at  once  acknowledged.  He  was  invited  to  discuss 
the  questions  of  the  day  in  many  other  places  ;  and,  dur 
ing  the  campaign,  made  more  than  sixty  speeches  in  the 
neighboring  towns  and  cities.  In  Charlestown,  Cambridge, 
Roxbury,  Lowell,  Lynn,  Taunton,  and  other  towns  and 
cities,  he  addressed  large  and  enthusiastic  audiences  with 
telling  effect ;  so  that  the  general  exclamation  was,  "  How 
came  this  Natick  shoemaker  to  know  so  much  more  than 
we  (;o  on  national  questions?" 

The  answer  might  have  been,  "  This  Natick  shoemaker 
was  studying  '  The  Federalist '  and  the  proceedings  of 
Congress  while  you  were  asleep. 

In  some  instances,  attempts  were  made  to  interrupt 
him  in  his  speaking  ;  but  holding  himself  steadily  to  the 
point  in  question,  and  to  his  good  nature,  of  which  the  fund 
seemed  inexhaustible,  he  manfully  maintained  his  ground, 
and  carried  his  audiences  with  him.  He  spoke  extem 
poraneously,  but  never  without  careful  preparation.  He 
read  the  best  models  of  American  eloquence,  —  such  as 
Adams,  Everett,  Otis,  Channing,  Webster ;  and,  after  com 
mitting  parts  of  his  speeches  to  memory,  he  would  some* 


46  LIFE  OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

times  retire  to  Deacon  Coolidge's  old  oak-grove,  and  there 
rehearse  them  to  himself  alone.  He  is  remembered  by 
those  who  heard  him  in  this  campaign  as  a  young  man  of 
lithe  and  agile  form,  of  an  intellectual  cast  of  countenance, 
clear  complexion,  earnest,  searching  voice,  and  sparkling 
eyes.  He  usually  bent  over  the  desk  in  speaking,  as  if  to 
come  as  closely  in  contact  with  his  audience  as  he  could.- 
His  object  seemed  to  be  to  reveal  the  thought  of  his  hearer 
to  himself;  and  herein  lies  one  secret  of  a  speaker's  power. 
He  also  defended  his  positions  by  a  very  frequent  appeal  to 
facts  ;  and  one  who  well  remembers  him  at  that  time  avers, 
"  He  had  a  very  winning  way  in  presenting  them." 

At  the  close  of  the  campaign,  he  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  Mr.  Harrison,  for  whom  he  had  spoken  so  many 
times,  elected  to  the  presidential  chair  by  a  large  majority, 
—  two  hundred  and  thirty-four  to  Mr.  Van  Buren's  sixty 
electoral  votes,  — while  he  himself  was  chosen  a  representa 
tive  from  the  town  of  Natick  to  the  General  Court  of  Mas 
sachusetts.  The  legislative  hall  is  now  his  academy  ;  the 
constitution  is  his  text-book,  and  liberty  his  teacher. 

When  he  entered  the  House  of  Representatives,  he  ob 
served  that  an  honest  farmer,  twenty  years  his  senior,  had 
drawn  one  of  the  most  eligible  seats  in  the  hall ;  and  he  at 
once  offered  him  three  dollars  for  an  exchange.  The  farmer 
gladly  took  the  money  ;  for  one  seat  to  him  who  never 
spoke  was  just  as  good  as  another.  But,  some  time  after 
wards,  he  referred  to  the  circumstance  as  revealing  the 
pride  of  the  young  member.  "  No,"  said  one  who  better 
knew  his  spirit :  "  it  reveals  his  foresight.  He  gave  you 
three  dollars  for  your  seat  in  order  that  he  might  be  in  the 
best  position  to  hear  the  arguments  of  other  members,  and 
also  to  present  his  own  with  most  effect.  This  style  of 
doing  things,  if  carried  on,  will  give  him  influence  here." 


HAEKISON   CAMPAIGN.  47 

It  was  carried  on.  He  entered  upon  his  legislative  career 
with  the  determination  of  bestowing  his  whole  time  and 
attention  upon  the  business  corning  before  him.  With  sleep 
less  vigilance  he  watched  every  transaction,  listened  to 
every  speaker,  and  followed  every  question.  He  was  a 
working-man  ;  he  entered  the  legislative  hall  to  work  ;  he 
did  not  fail  to  work ;  and  workers  win. 

It  is  noticeable  that  his  first  legislative  speech  was  in 
favor  of  the  working-man.  It  was  delivered  Jan.  25, 
1841,  on  a  bill  to  exempt  laborers'  wages  from  attachment 
in  certain  cases.  He  said  the  honest  poor  of  the  State 
would  deprecate  the  passage  of  such  a  law :  it  would  pro 
tect  dishonesty.  The  class  of  men  who  lived  upon  the 
earnings  of  others  were  daily  increasing.  There  were 
many  men,  too,  who  judged  of  morality  by  law  alone. 
Such  a  law  would  impair  the  credit  of  the  poor  man.  He 
hoped  this  bill  would  be  considered  on  its  merits  alone,  with 
no  intermixture  of  party-spirit.  He  sympathized  with  the 
poor  men  with  whom  he  had  been  reared,  and  with  whom 
he  now  was.  He  moved  to  strike  out  the  enacting  clause. 

Inured  as  he  had  been  to  hard  and  unremitting  labor, 
and  with  sympathies  alive  to  human  suffering,  it  was  nat 
ural  that  Mr.  Wilson  should  be  opposed  to  the  whole  sys 
tem  of  domestic  servitude.  His  mind  revolted  at  the 
wrongs  the  bondman  bore  in  a  boasted  land  of  liberty :  he 
keenly  felt  the  cruelty  of  that  code  of  laws  that  held  him 
subject,  and  without  redress,  to  the  caprice  of  an  insolent 
and  hard-hearted  master.  The  instincts  of  a  noble  nature, 
the  teachings  of  the  gospel,  the  training  he  himself  had 
undergone,  the  philanthropic  spirit  of  the  age,  the  opinions 
of  the  founders  of  the  Constitution,  all  conspired  to  lead 
him  to  abominate  the  traffic  in  human  blood,  and  the 
tyranny  of  subjecting  innocent  men  and  women  to  servilu 


48  LIFE   OF   HENRY  WILSON 

labor.  The  more  lie  thought  upon  it,  the  more  iniquitous 
appeared  the  system :  it  despoiled  the  slave  of  his  just 
rights;  it  demoralized  the  master;  it  impoverished  his 
country.  At  the  same  time,  he  saw  that  the  slave-power, 
ever  intolerant  and  exacting,  had  long  held  ascendency  in 
Congress ;  had  by  the  craftiest  plans  extended  its  territory 
so  as  to  maintain  that  ascendency;  and,  while  menacing 
the  North,  had  contaminated  the  source  of  political  power, 
and  brought  the  free  States,  to  a  great  extent,  into  subser 
viency  to  its  schemes  of  aggression. 

Such,  it  is  believed,  were  Mr.  Wilson's  views  and  senti 
ments  at  this  period ;  and,  if  he  did  not  enter  the  abolition 
ranks,  it  was  not  because  he  was  opposed  to  their  leading 
principles,  but  because  he  hoped  to  exert  a  stronger  influ 
ence  towards  the  ultimate  redemption  of  the  slave  by  act 
ing  with  the  progressive  men  in  the  Whig  party.  In  the 
legislature  his  voice  was  ever  heard,  his  vote  was  ever  cast, 
on  behalf  of  the  rights  of  those  in  bondage.  In  the  House 
of  Representatives,  in  1841,  he  advocated  the  repeal  of  the 
law,  which  has  been  termed  the  last  of  the  slave  code  in 
this  State,  forbidding  the  intermarriage  of  blacks  and 
whites;  and,  in  the  next  session,  made  another  strong 
speech  in  opposition  to  the  law,  maintaining  that  it  was 
founded  on  inequality  and  caste.  He  declared  "that  the 
bill  was  not  inspired  by  political,  but  by  humane  motives  ; 
and,  though  it  might  be  defeated  then,  it  would  ultimately 
be  enacted.  It  was  only  a  question  of  time."  This 
obnoxious  law  was  repealed  at  the  next  session  of  the 
legislature.  In  November,  1842,  Mr.  Wilson  was  a  can 
didate  for  the  State  Senate  ;  but  the  Whig  party  was  that 
year  defeated  in  his  county,  as  it  was  in  the  State.  There 
being  no  election  of  governor  by  the  people,  the  legisla 
ture,  in  January,  1843,  elected  Marcus  Morton  fora  second 


HIS  COURSE  IN  THE    GENERAL   COURT.  49 

term.  In  1844  Mr.  Wilson  obtained  a  senatorial  seat,  and 
took  an  active  part  in  the  deliberations  of  that  body,  ever 
ranging  himself  upon  the  side  of  progress  and  reform.  He 
made  an  elaborate  report  on  military  affairs,  and  carried  it 
through  the  Senate. 

O 

He  was  again  a  member  of  the  same  body  in  1845,  where 
he  again  labored  successfully  for  the  improvement  of  the 
military  system  of  the  State,  and  also  to  improve  the  con 
dition  of  the  colored  people.  He  strenuously  advocated 
the  rio-lit  of  negroes  to  seats  in  the  railroad-car,  from  which 

o  o 

they  had  in  several  cases  been  insolently  ejected ;  and  also 
their  right  to  admission  to  our  public  schools,  from  which 
prejudice  had  excluded  them. 

A  bill  reported  to  the  Senate,  providing  that  any  child 
unlawfully  excluded  from  the  public  schools  should  be  en 
titled  to  recover  damages,  had  been  rejected.  Moving 
the  next  day  a  reconsideration  of  this  vote,  Mr.  Wilson 
made  an  able  speech  in  behalf  of  the  bill,  in  which  he  said 
that  he  considered  it  the  most  important  one  which  had 
come  up  that  session..  "  It  concerned,"  said  he,  "  the 
rights  and  feelings  of  a  large  but  humble  portion  of  our 
people,  whose  interests  should  be  watched  over  and  cared 
for  by  the  legislature  ;  whose  imperative  duty  it  was,  when, 
complaints  were  made  of  the  invasion  of  the  rights  of  the 
poorest  and  the  humblest,  to  provide  a  remedy  that  should 
be  full  and  ample  to  secure  and  guard  all  his  rights."  He 
said  the  common-school  system,  the  pride  and  glory  of 
Massachusetts,  was  based  upon  the  principle  of  perfect 
equality,  and  that  the  distinction  set  up  at  Nantucket  aimed 
a  blow  at  its  very  existence.  The  colored  people  said, 
and  rightly,  that  their  feelings  were  trifled  with,  and  their 
rights  disregarded.  Denouncing  the  spirit  that  excluded 
colored  children  from  the  full  and  equal  benefits  of  com- 
6 


60  LIFE  OF  HENKY  WILSON. 

mon  schools,  he  said,  "  It  is  the  same  which  has  drenched 
the  world  with  blood  for  six  thousand  years,  made  a  slave 
holder  in  South  Carolina,  and  a  slave-pirate  on  the  coast  of 
Africa."  He  said  that  those  whose  rights  he  wished  to 
guard  and  secure  had  but  little  influence  or  power ;  while 
those  who  opposed  them  had  both,  and  were  only  too  will 
ing  to  use  them  for  their  own  aggrandizement.  It  was 
more  popular  to  keep  along  with  the  current  of  prejudice, 
than,  by  resisting  it,  to  be  denounced  as  a  "  radical  or  abo 
litionist."  u  In  retiring  from  the  legislature,"  he  said,  "  I 
am  sustained  by  the  consciousness  that  I  have  never  uttered 
a  word  or  given  a  vote  against  the  rights  of  any  human 
being.  I  had  far  rather  have  the  warm  and  generous 
thanks  of  one  poor  orphan-boy  down  on  the  Island  of  Nan- 
tucket,  that  I  may  never  see,  nor  even  know,  than  to  have 
the  approbation  of  every  man  in  the  Commonwealth,  whe 
ther  in  this  chamber  or  out  of  it,  who  would  deny  to  any 
child  the  full  and  equal  benefits  of  our  public  schools." 

Such  sentiments  are  creditable  to  the  senator's  heart. 
They  had  their  effect  on  the  Senate.  Mr.  Wilson's 
motion  was  adopted  by  a  large  majority :  the  bill  was  com 
mitted  to  the  judiciary  committee,  which  reported  a  simi 
lar  bill  that  became  the  law  of  the  State.  Thus  slowly, 
through  the  influence  of  the  friends  of  freedom,  Massa 
chusetts  came  to  see  and  to  acknowledge  the  rights  of  a 
long-abused  and  shamefully-neglected  race  of  people. 
Between  the  lofty  and  the  lowly  there  was  need  of  a  medi 
ator,,  who  by  his  intellect  could  reach  the  one,  and  by  his 
iand  of  toil  the  other ;  and  such  was  Henry  Wilson. 

"  Then  on  1  for  this  we  live,  — 
To  smite  the  oppressor  with  the  words  of  power ; 

To  bid  the  tyrant  give 
Back  to  his  brother  Heaven's  allotted  hour." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

MILITARY    SERVICES. ADDRESS    ON    TEMPERANCE,  1845.  — 

INFLUENCE    AT   HOME. 

His  Military  Turn  of  Mind.  —  Reading.  —  Views  of  War.  —  Views  of  the  Militia 
System.  —  Election  as  Major,  1843.  —  Colonel  and  Brigadier-General,  1846.  — 
Regard  for  Discipline.  —  Popularity  with  Soldiers.  —  Speech  in  the  Senate.  — 
Peace  and  War.  —  Preparations  for  more  Important  Duties.  —  His  Regard 
for  Temperance.  —  Speech  at  Natick,  1845.  —  A  Citizen  at  Home.  —  Appre 
ciated  by  his  Townsmen. 

B^t  nature  Mr.  Wilson  possesses  the  endowments  requi 
site  to  success,  not  only  as  a  political,  but  also  as  a 
military  leader.  Rapid  in  his  combinations,  quick  to  dis 
cover  the  weak  point  in  an  opponent,  fertile  in  expedients, 
fearless  and  far-seeing,  he  has  elements  both  of  mind 
and  body  for  a  commander.  His  thoughts  were  early 
turned  towards  military  life  ;  and,  during  his  minority, 
he  took  delight  in  reading  the  history  of  the  campaigns 
of  Marlborough,  Wolfe,  Washington,  Wellington,  Napo 
leon,  and  other  eminent  generals.  He  drew  in  his 
mind  the  plans  of  celebrated  battles,  and  criticised,  as  he 
could,  the  movements  of  distinguished  leaders  in  the 
field.  He  first  appeared  upon  the  training-field  in  Farm- 
ington,  where  he  was  appointed  to  an  inferior  military 
office.  On  coming  to  Natick,  he  continued  to  take  a  lively 
interest  in  military  affairs.  He  abominated  war,  viewed 
simply  as  a  means  of  attaining  personal  glory ;  but  he  felt 

61 


52  LIFE  OF  HENEY  WILSON. 

that  it  was  sometimes  indispensable  to  self-protection,  and 
that  the  military  system  of  Massachusetts  needed  revision 
and  support. 

This  opinion  he  privately  and  publicly  expressed  as 
opportunity  occurred.  In  the  State  Senate,  1844,  he 
was  appointed  chairman  of  the  Military  Committee,  and 
made  a  strong  speech  on  the  14th  of  February  of  that  year 
in  favor  of  increasing  the  pay  of  soldiers  doing  military 
duty. 

In  J  843,  without  his  knowledge  or  consent,  he  was 
elected  major  of  the  first  regiment  of  artillery,  of  which 
William  Schouler  was  then  colonel.  He  knew  nothing  of 
his  election  until  he  saw  the  announcement  of  it  in  the 
public  papers.  His  duties  as  a  major  he  faithfully  dis 
charged,  and  thereby  won  the  confidence  and  respect  of 
the  soldiers  under  him.  In  June,  1846,  he  was  elected  as 
colonel  of  the  same  regiment ;  and,  six  weeks  later,  briga 
dier-general  of  the  third  brigade  of  the  Massachusetts  vol 
unteer  militia,  in  which  office  he  continued  for  the  next 
five  years.  During  this  period  he  studied  military  tactics 
carefully,  and  by  his  skill  and  industry  brought  his  brigade 
up  to  an  admirable  state  of  discipline.  His  soldiers  loved 
him  and  obeyed  him,  carrying  out  his  orders  with  alac 
rity,  and  priding  themselves  upon  the  bearing  and  ability 
of  their  commander.  He  had  the  reputation  of  drill 
ing  his  brigade  with  greater  thoroughness  than  any  other 
officer  in  the  State,  and  of  being,  at  the  same  time, 
highly  popular  with  his  men.  By  his  strenuous  exer 
tions  in  the  legislature,  much  was  done  to  revive  the  mili 
tary  spirit  in  Massachusetts,  and  to  put  her  into  position 
for  a  struggle  which  some  prophetic  eyes  discovered  even 
then  to  be  impending.  In  a  defence  of  the  integrity  of 
the  soldiers  at  the  polls,  Mr.  Wilson,  referring  to  his  own 


MTLTTABY  SERVICES.  53 

connection  with  the  militia  of  the  State,  said  in  the  Con 
vention  of  1853, — 

"  I  may  speak  from  some  little  experience,  having  been 
a  member  of  the  volunteer  militia  of  Massachusetts  for 
nine  years,  and  having  during  these  years  held  the  offices 
of  major,  lieutenant-colonel,  colonel,  and  brigadier-general. 
I  held  the  command  of  a  brigade  of  more  than  eight  hun 
dred  men  for  five  years  ;  and  during  these  nine  years  I 
made  many  acquaintances  and  formed  many  friendships  I 
shall  ever  fondly  cherish.  Not  one  unkind  word  ever 
passed  between  me  and  any  officer  or  private  of  the 
brigade  during  my  nine  years  of  connection  with  it.  I 
received  from  many  of  my  comrades  many  acts  of  kind 
ness  I  hope  never  to  forget.  During  these  years  I  was 
five  times  a  candidate  for  senator  of  Middlesex,  the 
county  where  the  members  of  my  brigade  resided  ;  and  I 
can  truly  say  that  I  do  not  know  or  think  that  I  ever 
received  a  single  vote  owing  to  my  connection  with  the 
brigade.  Four  of  the  five  gentlemen  who  were  members 
of  my  staff  were  of  a  different  political  faith  from  mine  ; 
and  I  have  no  reason  to  think  they  ever  sacrificed  their 
opinions  on  account  of  our  personal  relations  as  members 
of  a  military  family.  The  members  of  the  volunteer 
militia  of  Massachusetts  are  generally  men  of  intelligence 
and  character,  who  are  not  won  from  their  political  alle 
giance  by  the  plume  and  epaulet." 

So  in  the  same  speech  he  thus  eloquently  expresses  his 
views  of  peace  and  war  :  — 

"  I  am  not  one  of  those  men  who  cry  peace  when  there 
is  no  peace  without  slavery,  injustice,  and  wrong.  I  may 
be  in  error  ;  but  I  have  sometimes  thought  that  the  song 
which  the  peace-movement  has  hymned  into  the  ear  of 
Europe  during  the  past  five  years  has  made  far  easier  the 

6* 


54  LIFE  OF  HEKEY  WILSON. 

march  of  the  legions  of  Russia  and  Austria  upon  Hungary 
and  Italy,  and  the  march  of  the  legions  of  France  — 
of  apostate  republican  France  —  upon  Rome.  While  the 
people  have  listened  with  softened  hearts  to  the  songs  of 
peace,  their  masters  have  disarmed  them,  and  sent  forth 
their  increasing  standing  armies  to  crush  every  manifesta 
tion  of  freedom,  progress,  and  popular  rights.  When 
tyranny  is  overthrown,  and  freedom  established ;  when 
standing  armies  are  disbanded,  and  the  people  armed  for 
their  own  protection  against  arbitrary  power,  —  then  I  would 
write  4  Peace  '  on  the  banners  of  the  people,  and  send  them 
forth  to  make  the  tour  of  the  world.  My  motto  is, 
4  LIBERTY  first ;  PEACE  afterwards.'  " 

By  these  faithful  military  services  in  his  own  State, 
Mr.  Wilson  was  unconsciously  making  preparation  for  the 
intelligent  performance  of  the  important  duties  which  de 
volved  on  him  as  chairman  of  the  Military  Committee  of 
the  United-States  Senate  during  the  Rebellion.  For  that 
post,  not  only  comprehensive  views,  and  industry  that  fears 
no  task,  but  large  experience  and  information  gained  by 
actual  practice,  were  demanded;  and  these  Mr.  Wilson 
had. 

In  regard  to  temperance  Mr.  Wilson's  record  has  ever 
been  clear,  decided,  and  consistent.  With  profound  sorrow 
he  early  saw  the  havoc  produced  among  his  fellow-men  by 
the  use  of  stimulating  drink ;  and  with  unwavering  steadi 
ness  he  has  ever  used  his  tongue,  his  pen,  and  his  vote,  to 
dissuade  and  to  restrain  them  from  the  sale  and  from  the 
use  of  any  thing  which  intoxicates  the  brain.  Next  to 
slavery,  he  has  considered  intemperance  as  the  tremen 
dous  evil  of  this  nation  ;  and  therefore,  as  a  friend  of 
humanity  and  a  lover  of  his  country,  he  has  ever  striven 
most  earnestly  to  arrest  its  progress.  His  views  on  this 


ADDRESS  ON  TEMPERANCE.  55 

question  in  1845  appear  in  an  animated  address  delivered 
on  behalf  of  the  Young  Men's  Temperance  Society  in 
Natick  on  the  presentation  by  a  lady  of  a  beautiful  banner 
to  that  body.  It  will  be  read  with  interest :  — 

"  MADAM,  —  In  receiving  at  your  hands  this  beautiful 
banner  from  the  ladies  of  the  Martha  Washington  So 
ciety,  permit  me,  in  return,  in  behalf  of  my  associates,  to 
tender  to  you,  and  the  ladies  whose  organ  you  are,  our 
sincere  and  grateful  acknowledgments  for  this  expression 
of  your  favor.  For  this  evidence  of  zeal  in  our  cause, 
and  regard  for  our  success,  you  have  the  thanks  of  many 
warm  and  generous  hearts,  that  will  ever  throb  with 
grateful  recollection  of  your  kindness  till  they  shall  cease 
to  beat  forever.  We  receive,  madam,  with  the  deepest 
and  liveliest  sensibility,  the  kind  sentiments  you  have 
expressed  in  behalf  of  our  society.  Be  assured  that  these 
sentiments  are  appreciated  and  reciprocated  by  us. 

"  You  have  this  day,  ladies,  consecrated  and  devoted 
this  banner  to  the  great  moral  movement  of  the  age.  We 
accept  its  guardianship  with  mingled  feelings  of  pride, 
hope,  and  joy.  It  is  indeed  a  fit  and  noble  tribute,  an 
offering  worthy  of  the  cause  and  of  you.  May  its  fair 
folds  never  be  stained  or  dishonored  by  any  act  of  ours  I 
Tasteful  and  expressive  in  design  and  execution,  we  prize 
it  highly  for  its  intrinsic  worth ;  but  we  prize  it  still  higher 
as  a  manifest  and  enduring  memorial  of  your  devotion  to 
principle  and  duty.  Ever  proud  shall  we  be  to  unroll  its 
gorgeous  folds  to  the  sunshine  and  the  breeze ;  to  gather 
round  it,  and  rally  under  it,  and  guard  and 'defend  it,  as  we 
would  defend  from  every  danger  its  fair  and  generous 
donors.  It  was  not  intended  that  the  eye  should  feast 
alone  on  its  splendor,  but  that,  so  often  as  the  eye  should 


56  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

gaze  upon  it,  a  quick  and  lively  appreciation  of  the  tran 
scendent  magnitude  of  the  cause  to  which  you  have 
devoted  it  should  live  in  our  understanding,  and  affect  our 
hearts. 

"  Ours  is  a  peaceful  reform,  a  moral  warfare.  We  are 
not  called  upon  to  leave  our  homes  and  the  loved  ones 
that  cluster  around  our  domestic  altars  to  go  to  the  field 
of  bloody  strife  on  an  errand  of  wrath  and  hatred.  Our 
battles  are  bloodless  ;  our  victories  are  tearless. 

"  Yet  the  contest  in  which  we  are  engaged  is  a  fearful 
one ;  for  it  is  a  struggle  with  the  vitiatc-d  and  depraved 
appetites  and  passions  of  our  fallen  race,  —  foes  that  have 
triumphed  over  earth's  brightest  and  fairest,  over  all  that 
is  noble  in  man  and  lovely  in  woman.  These  foes  have 
gathered  their  victims  from  every  clime  and  every  age. 
No  age,  sex,  or  condition,  has  escaped.  Heroes  who  have 
led  their  mailed  legions  over  a  hundred  fields  of  glory  and 
renown,  and  planted  their  victorious  eagles  on  the  capitals 
of  conquered  nations;  statesmen  who  have  wielded  the 
destinies  of  mighty  empires,  setting  up  and  pulling  down 
thrones  and  dynasties,  and  stamping  the  impress  of  their 
genius  upon  the  institutions  of  their  age  ;  orators  who  have 
held  listening  senates  in  mute  and  rapt  admiration,  and 
whose  eloquence  has  thrown  a  halo  of  imperishable  light 
and  unfading  glory  over  their  age  and  nation ;  scholars 
who  have  laid  under  contribution  the  vast  domains  of 
matter  and  mind,  grasping  and  mastering  the  mighty 
problems  of  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical  science,  and 
left  behind  them  monuments  of  toil  and  wisdom  for  the 
study  and  admiration  of  all  ages,  —  have  been  the  victims, 
the  slaves,  of  these  foes,  —  foes  which  we  have  pledged 
ourselves  to  conquer.  In  this  fearful  contest  we  will  bear 
aloft  this  banner ;  and  when  the  conflict  thickens,  when 


ADDRESS  ON  TEMPEKANCE.  57 

trials,  doubts,  and  temptations  come  around  us  like  the 
floods,  may  it  glitter  through  the  gloom  like  a  beacon- 
light  over  the  dark  and  troubled  waste  of  waters,  a  sign 
of  hope  and  promise,  to  which  may  come,  in  the  hour  of 
loneliness,  sorrow,  and  penitence,  some  erring  and  fallen 
brother!  You  can  sustain  us  by  your  prayers,  and  cheer 
us  by  your  approving  smiles.  You  can  visit,  as  you  have 
done,  the  drunkard's  home  of  poverty,  destitution,  and 
misery,  and  by  offices  of  kindness  and  charity  do  some 
thing  to  dry  up  the  tears  and  alleviate  the  wants  of  its 
neglected  and  sorrowing  inmates. 

*'  Every  great  struggle  for  humanity  has  been  blessed 
by  woman's  prayers,  and  aided  by  her  generous  toil.  The 
history  of  our  country,  of  our  own  renowned  common 
wealth,  is  full  of  the  noblest  instances  of  her  constancy 
and  devotion.  She  trod  with  our  fathers  the  deck  of 
'  The  Mayflower.'  She  sat  beside  them  in  unrepining 
and  uncomplaining  constancy  as  they  gathered  in  council, 
houseless  and  homeless  in  mid-winter,  to  lay  in  prayers 
and  tears  the  foundations  of  a  free  Christian  common 
wealth.  In  the  long,  perilous  struggles  with  the  wild 
sons  of  the  forest,  she  shared  without  complaint  their 
privations  and  dangers ;  and,  in  the  great  struggle  for 
independence,  she  counselled  the  wise,  infused  courage 
into  the  brave,  armed  fathers,  husbands,  sons,  and  bro 
thers,  and  sent  them  to  the  field  where  freedom  was  to  be 
won  by  blood.  In  the  great  struggle  in  which  we  are 
engaged  to  free  our  native  land  from  the  blighting, 
withering,  soul-destroying  curse  of  intemperance,  our  fair 
country-women  have  shown  that  they  inherit  the  virtues 
of  our  patriotic  mothers. 

"  Ladies,  you  have  this  day  given  us  substantial  evi« 
dence  of  your  friendship,  sympathy,  and  co-operation. 


56  lri±'Ji    UP'   HKJNfiY  WILSON. 

May  we  not,  then,  indulge  the  hope  that  our  societies  will 
move  along  in  union  and  harmony,  each  in  its  appropriate 
sphere  of  duty,  laboring  to  hasten  on  the  day  when  every 
drunkard  shall  be  redeemed,  and  restored  to  his  manhood 
and  to  society  ? 

"  Friends  and  associates,  we  shall  doubtless,  in  the 
changes  and  mutations  of  life,  be  called  to  separate. 
Wherever  we  may  go,  on  the  land  or  on  the  sea,  in 
our  own  or  other  climes,  may  a  deep  and  abiding  sense 
of  duty  go  with  us  !  May  the  influences  of  this  hour 
be  ever  upon  us !  May  this  banner,  the  gift  of  those 
near  and  dear  to  us,  ever  float  in  our  mind's  eye,  inciting 
us  to  duty,  and  guarding  us  in  the  hour  of  temptation  1 
And  when  life's  labors  are  done,  its  trials  over,  and  its 
honors  won,  may  each  of  us  have  the  proud  consciousness 
that  we  have  kept  the  pledge  inviolate ;  that  we  have  done 
something  in  our  day  and  generation  for  our  race,  —  some 
thing  that  shall  cause  our  names  and  memories  to  be 
mentioned  with  respect  and  gratitude  when  'the  golden 
bowl  shall  be  broken  and  the  silver  cord  loosed,'  when  our 
'  bodies  '  shall  have  mouldered  and  mingled  with  the  dust, 
and  '  our  spirits  have  returned  to  Crod  who  gave  them  '  "  ! 

Thus  at  home,  among  his  own  immediate  friends  and 
acquaintances,  Mr.  Wilson's  words  and  example  were 
from  the  outset  unchangeably  on  the  side  of  sobriety,  civil 
order,  social  progress,  and  reform.  If  any  thing  beneficent 
was  to  be  attempted,  his  friends  knew  where  to  find  him. 
His  hand  and  heart  were  ready.  On  the  young  people 
of  the  village  his  influence  was  ever  salutary  and  inspir 
ing.  His  friendly  counsel  was  ever  given  for  a  higher, 
nobler  course  of  life.  In  the  social  circle,  in  the  shop, 
the  lecture-room,  or  in  the  street,  he  was  always  on  the 


INFLUENCE  AT  HOME.  59 

right  side.  Very  many  of  his  companions  can  trace  their 
success  in  life  mainly  to  the  elevating  influence  he  exerted 
over  them.  The  steady  vote  of  Natick  in  his  favor,  and 
the  public  demonstrations  of  joy  which  that  town  has 
made  on  his  advancement  to  political  power,  evince  the 
estimation  in  which  he  is  held  as  a  townsman,  friend, 
and  neighbor  at  home.  Those  who  know  him  best  appre 
ciate  him  most  highly  as  a  citizen  and  as  a  man. 


CHAPTER  V. 

OPPOSITION    TO    THE    ANNEXATION     OF    TEXAS. CARRIES 

PETITIONS     TO     WASHINGTON. SPEECH     IN     THE 

HOUSE    OF    REPRESENTATIVES,  1846. 

Southern  Efforts  to  annex  Texas  to  the  United  States.  —  Mr.  Wilson's  Amend 
ment  to  Resolutions  against  Annexation  in  the  Senate  adopted.  —  Call  for  a 
Convention.  —  Opposed  by  Whigs.  —  Held  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Jan.  27.  —  Ad 
dress  to  the  People.  —  The  True  Reformer.  —  Meeting  at  Waltham.  —  Mr. 
Wilson's  Views. —  Convention  at  Concord,  1845.  —  Mr.  Hunt.  —  Meeting  at 
Cambridge,  Oct.  21.  —  Address  of  Mr.  Wilson.  —  Persistent  Efforts.  —  Car 
ries  Petitions  to  Washington.  —  Refuses  to  take  Wine  with  Mr.  Adams.  — 
State  Representative  in  1846.  —  Introduces  Resolution  on  Slavery.  —  Elo 
quent  Speech  thereon.  —  Mr.  Garrison's  View  of  it.  —  Regard  for  the  Con 
stitution. 

ON  the  death  of  Mr.  Harrison,  April  4, 1841,  the  slave- 
power  found  in  Mr.  Tyler,  his  successor,  a  will 
ing  advocate  of  its  extension ;  and  then  brought  forward 
with  unblushing  front  the  gigantic  scheme  of  annexing 
Texas  to  the  Union.  This,  said  Gen.  Hamilton,  would 
"give  a  Gibraltar  to  the  South."  "The  Madisonian," 
the  organ  of  the  administration,  declared  that  it  would 
have  the  most  salutary  influence  upon  slavery,  and 
that  "  it  must  be  done  soon,  or  not  at  all ;  "  and  Mr.  Up- 
shur  asserted  in  January,  1844,  that,  "  if  Texas  should  not 
be  attached  to  the  United  States,  she  cannot  maintain  that 
institution  [slavery]  ten  years,  and  probably  not  half  that 
time."  Stormy  debates  occurred  in  Congress  on  the 


OPPOSITION   TO   THE  ANNEXATION  OF   TEXAS.      61 

question  ;  the  Whigs,  in  general,  opposing  the  annexation  > 
while  "  Texas,  or  disunion ! "  became  the  watchword  of 
the  South.  The  question  was  carried  into  the  presidential 
election  of  1844 ;  and  James  K.  Polk  thus  came  into  the 
chief  executive  chair. 

In  the  State  Senate  Mr.  Wilson  took  an  active  part 
against  the  Texan  scheme.  He  moved  an  amendment  to 
the  resolutions  against  annexation,  "  requesting  Massachu 
setts  senators  in  Congress  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the  con 
summation  of  that  slaveholding  scheme."  The  resolution 
implied  a  rebuke  for  their  timid  action  ;  and  he  commented 
freely  on  what  he  characterized  as  their  want  of  spirit.  He 
wished  to  call  their  attention  to  the  fact,  that,  upon  the  ques 
tion  of  slavery,  the  legislature  was  in  sober  earnest ;  that 
it  wished  "  them  to  feel,  to  think,  and  to  act  as  Massachu 
setts  men,  who  have  been  reared  under  the  institutions  of 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  should  think,  feel,  and  act."  His 
amendment  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Senate  ;  and, 
though  amended  in  the  House  by  the  insertion  of  the  words 
"  representatives  in  Congress,"  it  had  the  desired  effect 
upon  our  senators  in  that  body.  Mr.  Wilson  spoke  elo 
quently  and  earnestly  in  the  Senate-chamber  against  annex 
ation,  maintaining  that,  "  if  Texas  should  be  admitted  by  a 
legislative  act,  that  act  could  and  ought  to  be  repealed  at 
the  earliest  possible  moment."  In  order  to  develop  and 
concentrate  public  sentiment  on  this  question,  he  drew  up 
a  paper  calling  a  convention  of  the  State.  Many  eminent 
men  of  the  Whig  party  in  the  General  Court  declined 
to  sign  the  paper.  This  was  the  entering  wedge  in  the 
division  of  the  Whig  party  of  Massachusetts  in  respect 
to  slavery,  which  resulted  in  open  rupture  three  years 
afterwards,  and,  finally,  in  complete  extinction.  Glory 
ing  in  its  past  record,  and  intimidated  by  the  effrontery  o{ 


62  LIFE   OF   HENHY  WILSON. 

the  South,  that  party  failed  to  see  the  "  logic  of  events," 
and  wore  away  until  it  received  from  its  distinguished 
leader,  Daniel  Webster,  in  his  speech  on  the  seventh  day 
of  March,  1850,  its  final  death-blow.  The  world  was 
moving :  not  to  move  with  it  was  to  perish. 

The  State  convention  was  held  in  Faneuil  Hall  upon 
the  29th  of  January ;  and  its  discussions  were  character 
ized  by  earnestness,  vigor,  and  determination.  An  ad 
dress,  in  part  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Webster,  and  declaring 
that  u  Massachusetts  denounces  the  iniquitous  project 
[of  annexation]  in  its  inception,  and  in  every  stage  of 
its  progress,  its  means,  and  its  ends,  and  all  the  purposes 
and  pretences  of  its  authors,"  was  unanimously  adopted,  and 
widely  circulated.  "  Thoughtful  men,"  says  Mr.  Wilson, 
"filled  the  hall;  speakers  and  hearers  partook  of  a  common 
sentiment :  they  realized  as  never  before  the  imminence 
of  the  impending  calamity,  the  gravity  of  the  occasion,  and 
the  pregnant  issues  of  the  hour." 

44  The  true  reformer,"  says  some  writer,  "is  the  man 
upon  whose  mind  the  light  of  great  truths  has  fallen  before 
it  has  reached  the  mass  of  his  fellow-men,  and  who  feels 
called  of  God  to  shed  it  abroad  in  the  darkness."  The 
declarations  of  Mr.  Wilson  at  this  period  show  that  he  dis 
tinctly  saw  the  "  impending  crisis,"  the  upheaving  of  the 
moral  power  of  the  nation,  arid  the  downfall  of  the  deep- 
rooted  institution  of  human  servitude. 

Although  a  treaty  of  annexation  had  been  signed  by 
the  president,  and  Texas  had  accepted  the  conditions,  she 
was  not  yet  a  State  of  the  Union.  Efforts  were  therefore 
strenuously  made  by  antislavery  men  against  her  admis 
sion  as  a  State.  On  the  anniversary  (Aug.  1,  1845)  of 
the  West-India  emancipation,  a  large  meeting  was  held  at 
Waltham,  Mass.,  where  eloquent  speeches  were  made  by 


OPPOSITION  TO  THE  ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS.      63 

William  Henry  Charming,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  John 
Weiss,  and  Henry  Wilson,  in  which  the  usurpations  and 
iniquities  of  the  slaveholding  power  were  forcibly  set  forth. 

"  The  calamity  and  disgrace  of  annexation,"  said  Mr. 
Wilson,  "  had  come  upon  the  country  through  the  treachery 
of  Northern  men :  even  the  representative  of  Concord  and 
Lexington  had  proved  recreant."  To  the  question,  "  What 
should  be  done  ?  "  he  said,  "  Act.  Hold  meetings  in  every 
district,  town,  and  county  in  the  State.  Oppose  the  admis 
sion  of  Texas  into  the  Union  as  a  slaveholding  State,  and 
appeal  to  the  people  of  the  free  States  to  arrest  the  con 
summation  of  the  great  iniquity.  Say  to  the  men  of  the 
South, 4  You  are  warring  against  civilization,  against  human 
ity,  against  the  noblest  feelings  of  the  heart,  the  holiest 
impulses  of  the  human  soul,  and  the  providence  of  God ; 
and -the  conflict  must  ultimately  end  in  your  defeat.'  ' 

Mr.  Wilson  soon  after  obtained  the  signatures  of  a  large 
number  of  influential  men  for  a  convention  to  be  held  at 
Concord  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  September,  1845, 
which,  as  set  forth  in  the  call,  was  to  "  take  into  consider 
ation  the  encroachments  of  the  slave-power,  and  recom 
mend  such  action  as  justice  and  patriotism  shall  dictate  to 
resist  those  encroachments,  and  arrest  the  progress  of  events 
so  rapidly  tending  to  that  fearful  consummation  when  slavery 
shall  have  complete  control  over  the  policy  of  the  government 
and  the  destinies  of  the  country.  "  Men  of  all  parties,  sects, 
and  pursuits,  were  invoked  to  "  devote  one  day  to  the  coun 
try  and  the  oppressed."  "  Let  old  age,"  he  said,  "  with  its 
garnered  treasures  of  wisdom  and  experience,  be  there, 
let  manhood  in  its  maturity  and  vigor  be  there,  let  youth 
with  its  high  hopes  and  aspirations  be  there,  to  devise 
such  measures  and  awaken  such  a  spirit  as  shall  free  the 
country  from  the  dominion,  curse,  and  shame  of  slavery." 


64  LIFE  OF   HENRY   AVILSON. 

Mr.  Wilson  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  a  large,  enthusi 
astic  convention,  and  of  reporting  a  preamble  and  resolu 
tions  ;  the  former  of  which  had  been  prepared  by  his  pas 
tor,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Hunt,  who,  he  observes,  "  had  always, 
in  the  pulpit,  in  religious  and  political  organizations,  and 
at  the  ballot-box,  acted  for  the  slave,  and  against  the  domi 
nation  of  his  master." 

"  We  solemnly  announce  our  purpose  to  the  South," 
said  the  resolutions  ;  "  and  to  the  execution  of  that  purpose 
we  pledge  ourselves  to  the  country  and  before  Heaven, 
that,  rejecting  all  compromise,  without  restraint  or  hesita 
tion,  in  our  private  relations  and  in  our  political  organiza 
tions,  by  our  voices  and  our  votes,  in  Congress  or  out,  we 
will  use  all  practicable  means  for  the  extinction  of  slavery 
on  the  American  continent."  Letters  were  received  from 
Charles  Francis  Adams,  and  John  G.  Whittier  the  poet ; 
and  eloquent  speeches  were  made  by  William  Lloyd  Gar 
rison,  Stephen  C.  Phillips,  and  other  antislavery  men.  The 
resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted. 

At  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the  convention,  held  in 
Cambridge  on  the  21st  of  October,  Mr.  Wilson  presided, 
and,  on  taking  the  chair,  made  an  earnest  appeal  for  prompt 
and  fearless  action  ;  in  which  he  said,  "  Let  us  at  once 
take  an  advanced  step  against  the  slave-power.  Let  us  act, 
and,  as  far  as  we  have  the  constitutional  right,  go  in  favor 
of  emancipation.  Let  us  make  it  the  cardinal  doctrine  oh 
our  creed,  the  sun  of  our  system.  Let  us  inscribe,  in  let 
ters  of  tight,  emancipation  on  the  banners  under  which  we 
rally.  Let  us  go  to  the  country  on  that  issue.  We  shall 
reach  the  heart  and  conscience  of  the  people.  They  will 
come  to  the  rescue,  and  we  shall  lay  the  foundations  of  an 
enduring  triumph." 

A  committee  appointed  at  this  convention  prepared  an 


CARKIES   PETITIONS   TO   WASHINGTON.  65 

address  to  the  people,  and  received  in  response  peti 
tions,  signed  by  sixty-five  thousand  names,  against  the 
admission  of  Texas  as  a  State  into  the  Union.  Mr.  "Wil 
son  and  John  G.  Whittier  were  chosen  to  present  this 
remonstrance  of  the  people  of  this  State  to  Congress. 
On  the  tenth  day  of  December,  Mr.  Adams  laid  these 
petitions  before  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  moved 
that  they  be  referred  to  a  select  committee  ;  but  the  House 
by  a  large  majority  laid  them  on  the  table,  and  Texas 
soon  became  a  State  of  the  Union.  But,  though  the 
Southern  power  was  thus  augmented,  there  were  forces 
rising  and  combining  which  portended  "  irrepressible  con 
flict." 

While  at  Washington,  Mr.  Wilson  was  invited  to  dine 
with  John  Q.  Adams  ;  and,  when  wine  was  urged  upon 
him  at  table,  held  himself,  as  did  Daniel  at  the  court  of 
Babylon,  to  his  principles  of  temperance,  and  declined  to 
taste  it.  Surrounded  by  fashion,  and  moved  by  the  exam 
pie  of  the  great  and  gifted,  as  he  was,  he  has  since  spoken 
of  this  as  one  of  the  strongest  temptations,  in  respect  to 
total  abstinence,  of  his  life.  Mr.  Adams  afterwards  heartily 
commended  him  for  his  consistency* 

In  1846,  Mr.  Wilson,  who  had  declined  being  a  candi 
date  for  the  State  Senate,  held  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives,  and,  as  usual,  took  a  leading  part  in  the  de 
liberations  of  the  session  ;  ever  casting  the  weight  of  his 
influence  upon  the  side  of  humanity  and  progress.  He 
introduced  a  resolution  on  the  third  day  of  February,  declar 
ing  "  the  unalterable  hostility  of  Massachusetts  to  the  fur 
ther  extension  and  longer  existence  of  slavery  in  America, 
and  her  fixed  determination  to  use  all  constitutional  and 
legal  means  for  its  extinction."  This  resolution  he  sup 
ported  in  a  speech  of  signal  power,  evincing  profound 
6* 


66  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

research  and  a  complete  mastery  of  his  subject.  He  met 
with  stern  opposition  from  some  leading  men  of  the 
Whig  party,  with  which  he  was  still  acting ;  though  none 
could  answer  his  strong  and  lucid  argument.  Of  this 
speech  "  The  Liberator  "  said,  "  This  is  unquestionably 
the  best  antislavery  speech  that  has  ever  been  delivered  in 
any  legislative  assembly  in  this  country,  —  more  direct, 
more  comprehensive,  more  important ;  "  and  u  The  Boston 
Courier"  truly  averred  that  "the  spirit  of  independence 
is  manifest  in  every  paragraph."  Inasmuch  as  Mr.  Wil 
son,  in  this  appeal  for  freedom,  fearlessly  discloses  his 
opinions  as  a  legislative  champion  of  antislavery,  clearly 
states  the  issues  between  the  parties,  ably  answers  the 
objections  to  his  own  position,  marks  out  his  future  course, 
and  prophetically  announces  coming  events,  we  introduce 
it,  with  few  omissions,  to  the  reader  :  — 

SPEECH  ON  SLAVERY  IN  THE  MASSACHUSETTS    HOUSE 
OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  1846. 

"  I  am  not,  sir,  a  political  abolitionist ;  or,  rather,  I  am 
not  a  Liberty-party  man.  I  have  no  connection  whatever 
with  that  party  as  a  party.  I  am  an  abolitionist,  and  have 
been  a  member  of  an  abolition  society  for  nearly  ten  years. 
I  am  proud  of  the  name  of '  abolitionist : '  I  glory  in  it.  I  am 
willing  to  bear  my  full  share  of  the  odium  that  may  now 
or  hereafter  be  heaped  upon  it.  I  had  far  rather  be  one 
of  the  humblest  in  that  little  band  which  rallies  around  the 
glorious  standard  of  emancipation  than  to  have  been  the 
favorite  marshal  of  Napoleon,  and  have  led  the  Old  Guard 
over  a  hundred  fields  of  glory  and  renown.  I  have,  here 
and  in  the  other  branch,  always  advocated  and  supported 
all  measures  that  tend  to  the  freedom  and  elevation  of  the 


SPEECH  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF   REPRESENTATIVES.      67 

colored  portion  of  our  countrymen.  At  all  times  and  on 
all  occasions,  in  public  and  in  private,  I  have  endeavored, 
according  to  the  convictions  of  my  judgment,  to  advance 
the  cause  of  emancipation.  I  have  been  a  candidate  for 
seven  years  in  succession  for  this  House  or  the  Senate,  and 
have  never,  to  my  knowledge,  received  the  vote  of  a  soli 
tary  political  abolitionist ;  and,  should  I  ever  again  be  a 
candidate  for  public  office  (which  I  do  not  anticipate),  never 
expect  to  receive  from  one  a  vote.  I  hope,  therefore,  that 
no  more  insinuations  will  be  thrown  out  that  I  only  wish 
to  court  and  please  a  '  a  little  knot  of  political  abolition 
ists.'9  At  any  rate,  I  shall  not  shrink  from  the  perform 
ance  of  duty  from  any  such  insinuations  here  or  else 
where.  I  have  said  that  I  have  no  connection  with  the 
Liberty  party ;  yet  I  am  free  to  say  that  I  am  ready  to 
forget  the  past,  to  let  bygones  be  bygones,  and  to  act  with 
any  set  of  men  —  Whigs,-  Democrats,  Liberty  men,  or  old 
organizationists  —  in  all  lawful  and  constitutional  measures 
that  shall  tend  to  arrest  the  extension,  and  overthrow  the 
entire  system,  of  slavery  in  America.  It  is  time  for  the 
friends  of  freedom  to  bury  minor  differences  of  opinion, 
and  march  shoulder  to  shoulder,  with  lock-step,  against 
the  slave-power.  How  stands  Massachusetts  at  this  time  ? 
What  is  her  position  in  reference  to  slavery  ?  As  long  ago 
as  1838,  during  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  an  ef 
fort  was  made  to  bring  Texas  into  the  Union.  The  subject 
was  brought  before  the  legislature ;  and  the  late  lamented 
James  C.  Alvord  of  Greenfield,  then  a  member  of  the  Sen 
ate,  made  a  very  able  report  on  the  subject,  concluding 
with  resolutions  against  the  admission  of  Texas,  which 
were  unanimously  adopted  as  the  sense  of  the  people  of 
the  Commonwealth.  And  in  1843,  when  the  Democratic 
party  had  the  control  of  the  State  government,  a  resolution 


68  LIFE   OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

was  likewise  unanimously  passed,  setting  forth  the  evils  of 
annexation,  and  declaring  that  under  '  no  circumstances 
whatever  would  Massachusetts  consent  to  it.'  In  1844, 
when  rumors  were  rife  that  the  administration  of  John 
Tyler,  —  which  has  been  aptly  called  a  'gigantic  joke,'  — 
casting  about  for  popular  themes  which  should  give  it 
a  chance  for  a  renewed  term,  had  pitched  upon  this 
project  of  annexation,  the  legislature,  by  nearly  a  unani 
mous  vote,  passed  resolutions  that  such  annexation  would 
be  a  *  palpable  violation  of  the  Constitution,  a  deliberate 
assault  upon  its  compromises.'  I  know  very  well,  and 
everybody  knows  very  well,  that  the  Democracy  have 
abandoned  the  position  we  all  then  assumed.  .  .  .  But 
the  deed  has  been  done.  The  last  act  in  this  great  drama 
of  national  guilt  and  infamy  has  been  performed.  Texas 
has  been  admitted.  She  is  now  a  sister  State.  She  has 
been  admitted  in  violation  of  the'  Constitution,  and  under 
circumstances  which  leave  but  little  doubt  that  the  measure 
was  carried  by  corruption,  —  by  a  free  use  of  the  patron 
age  of  the  executive.  Men  who  had  committed  themselves 
against  it,  and  whose  constituents  were  strongly  opposed  to 
it,  also  voted  for  it,  arid  have  since  received  their  reward 
by  appointment  to  places  of  honor  and  emolument. 

"  We  must  now  act.  We  are  in  a  position  where  we  can 
not  stand  still  with  honor  and  dignity.  We  can  adopt 
three  courses  of  action,  —  say  and  do  nothing;  stand  just 
where  we  now  are,  and  win,  as  win  we  should,  the  unenvi 
able  reputation  of  talking  loud  beforehand  ;  and,  when  the 
act  is  finally  accomplished,  shutting  our  mouths  in  silence, 
and  submitting  to  the  wrong  without  a  murmur.  Such  a 
position  is  one  of  shame  and  humiliation,  unworthy  of  old 
Massachusetts. 

"  We  may  declare  that  this  gross  outrage  of  the  Genera) 


SPEECH  IN  THE  HOUSE   OF   REPKESENTATIVES.      69 

Government  is  an  entire  revolution,  which  will  justify  Mas 
sachusetts  in  dissolving  all  connection  with  the  govern 
ment.  We  may  declare  our  independence,  withdraw 
our  delegation  from  Congress,  exercise  exclusive  jurisdic 
tion  over  our  territory,  and  maintain  it  by  force.  Very  few 
will  recommend  such  a  course  of  action.  Such  a  step 
would  doubtless  lead  to  bloodshed,  which  few  can  contem 
plate  without  horror.  Were  the  people  ready  and  pre 
pared  for  it,  the  circumstances  would  not,  could  not,  jus 
tify  such  action.  What,  then,  can  we  do?  We  can  pledge 
all  the  moral,  social,  and  political  power  of  the  Common 
wealth  against  slavery,  and  for  freedom.  We  will  remain 
in  the  Union  ;  but  we  remain  there  to  fight  the  battles  of 
freedom.  We  will  stand  by  the  Constitution :  but  we 
stand  by  it  to  rescue  and  defend  it  from  the  slave-power ; 
to  exercise  all  its  just  powers  for  the  overthrow  of  slavery. 
We  can  dedicate  ourselves  to  freedom,  and  wage  eternal 
hostility  to  slavery  and  its  power.  This  is,  in  my  judg 
ment,  the  only  true  course  for  Massachusetts  to  take.  Her 
duty  to  the  country,  and  her  own  honor  and  dignity,  de 
mand  that  she  should  take  that  position,  and  maintain  it 
with  unfaltering  devotion." 

Having  forcibly  discussed  the  allegations  of  the  pream 
ble  to  the  resolution,  he  continued  :  — 

"  Sir,  this  republic  was  based  upon  the  grand  idea  of 
the  freedom  and  equality  of  all  men ;  and  yet  now,  in 
the  middle  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  —  in  this  age 
of  light  and  knowledge  illuminating  our  pathway,  —  it  has 
committed  itself  against  freedom,  and  for  slavery.  And 
so  it  stands  committed  before  all  nations,  and  before  Him 
who  has  declared  that  '  righteousness  exalteth  a  nation,  and 
sin  is  a  reproach  to  any  people.'  Our  position  before  the 
world  is  now  one  of  disgrace  and  shame  ;  and  there  is  no 


70  LIFE  OF   HENEY  WILSON. 

true  American,  who  cares  any  thing  for  the  fame  and  glory 
of  his  country,  that  does  not  blush  for  his  native  land. 
We  are  drawing  upon  ourselves  the  scorn  and  derision  of 
the  universe.  With  the  friends  of  freedom  abroad  we 
are  fast  losing  sympathy  and  character.  It  is  the  universal 
sentiment  all  over  the  civilized  world,  that  we  are  false 
and  recreant  to  the  principles  of  our  own  Constitution. 
Even  the  great  and  good  Lafayette  declared,  a  short  time 
before  his  death,  to  Clarkson,  that  he  never  would  have 
drawn  his  sword  for  America  if  ?ie  had  known  he  was  aid 
ing  to  found  a  slaveholding  republic. 

"  At  the  present  time,  Mr.  Speaker,  slavery  governs  the 
country:  it  holds  possession  of  the  government,  and  its 
vast  power  is  everywhere  seen  and  felt.  Its  eye  is  fixed 
upon  California,  and  turned  towards  Cuba ;  and  Mr.  Cal- 
houn  has  even  gone  so  far  as  to  send  a  secret  and  special 
agent  to  Hayti  to  stir  up  a  rebellion  for  the  purpose  of 
crushing  the  negro  republic.  Slavery  has  its  sleepless 
eye  upon  the  rich  provinces  of  the  Mexican  republic. 
Our  own  gifted  Prescott  may  yet  live  to  write  again  4  The 
Conquest  of  Mexico,'  not  by  the  Spanish,  but  by  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race ;  and  for  what  ?  Simply,  solely,  and 
singly,  for  the  extension  of  negro  slavery  over  those  fair 
and  rich  fields. 

"  The  effects  of  slavery  upon  the  whites  and  the  blacks, 
upon  the  moral,  social,  and  intellectual  condition  of  the 
people,  are  visible  to  the  most  casual  observer.  It  has  left 
its  impress  upon  man,  upon  institutions  and  society,  and 
upon  the  face  of  Nature.  Like  the  fabled  upas-tree,  it  blasts, 
withers,  and  consumes  all  of  life  that  comes  within  the  cir 
cle  of  its  influence.  Of  the  five  millions  of  white  population 
in  the  slave  States,  only  about  three  hundred  thousand  are 
slaveholders  ;  the  great  mass  of  the  population  being  poor 


SPEECH  IN  THE  HOtTSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      71 

ignorant,  and  degraded,  many  of  them  but  little,  if  any, 
above  the  slaves  :  and  slavery  has  reduced  them  to  that 
condition.  The  soil  is  cut  up  into  vast  estates,  owned  by 
a  few  aristocrats  who  disdain  labor,  and  despise  the  laborer. 
Common  schools,  the  glory  of  New  England,  hardly  exist; 
and  education  is  almost  unknown  by  the  mass  of  the  peo 
pie.  It  is  our  boast  in  New  England  that  our  soil  is  divided 
into  small  estates  ;  that  its  cultivators  stand  upon  their  own 
acres,  which  they  till ;  and  that  education  is  accessible  to  all 
our  people.  These  are  the  main  supports  of  our  republi 
can  institutions.  What  are  the  results  of  the  two  systems  ? 
One  system  has,  for  example,  made  Massachusetts  the  pat 
tern  State  of  the  Union  :  the  other  has  made  old  Virginia, 
the  mother  of  States  and  of  statesmen,  a  poor  and  drivel 
ling  commonwealth,  with  a  broken-down  and  proud  aris 
tocracy  (mere  pensioners  upon  the  government  for  menial 
and  petty  offices),  and  a  helpless  and  dissipated  people. 
Such  is  the  legitimate  result  of  slavery  everywhere ;  and 
nothing  can  be  more  preposterous  than  the  idea  of  sustain 
ing  republican  institutions  in  a  land  of  slavery.  It  has 
ever  been  the  bane  of  empires.  It  corrupted  and  destroyed 
the  ancient  republics.  It  has  retarded  the  progress  of  the 
race.  It  destroyed  the  Roman  republic ;  it  corrupted  her 
aristocracy ;  it  annihilated  the  democracy,  impoverished 
the  masses,  and  converted  them  into  paupers  that  were 
fed  from  the  public  crib.  We  talk  of  Caesar's  crossing  the 
Rubicon,  and  prostrating  the  liberties  of  his  country :  Ro 
man  liberty  had  perished  forever  before  Cassar  returned 
from  his  Northern  conquests.  When  Tiberius  Gracchus, 
seeing  and  comprehending  the  tendencies  of  slavery,  at 
tempting  to  arrest  its  corrupting  influence  by  dividing  the 
public  domain  into  small  estates,  —  thus  creating  an  inde 
pendent  yeomanry  that  should  preserve  and  perpetuate 


72  LIFE   OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

the  liberties  of  the  commonwealth,  — fell  with  three  hun 
dred  of  his  followers  in  the  Forum  beneath  the  blows  of  the 
slaveholding  aristocracy,  and  his  body  was  thrown  into 
the  Tiber,  that  day  the  liberties  of  Rome  went  down,  to 
rise  no  more  forever.  We  talk  of  the  Northern  barbari 
ans  despoiling  Italy.  Before  the  Scythians  left  their  rude 
huts  in  the  North,  and  crossed  the  Alps,  the  rich  fields  of 
Italy  had  been  converted  into  barrenness  and  desolation  by 
the  barbarism  of  slavery,  so  that  those  once  fertile  fields 
would  only  yield  one-third  as  much  as  our  own  cold,  sterile 
soil  of  New  England.  Look  at  the  once  proud  monarchy  of 
Spain.  For  three  centuries  the  gold  and  the  silver  of  the 
New  World  were  poured  into  her  coffers.  It  seems  now  that 
the  hand  of  God  was  upon  her,  avenging  the  wrongs  of  the 
black  and  red  man. 

"  The  issue  is  now  clearly  made  up.  Slavery  assumes 
to  direct  and  control  the  nation.  The  friends  of  freedom 
must  meet  the  issue.  Freedom  and  slavery  are  now 
arrayed  against  each  other.  We  must  destroy  slavery,  or 
it  will  destroy  liberty.  The  path  of  duty  is  plain.  We 
are  bound  to  exert  our  utmost  efforts  to  restore  our  govern 
ment  to  its  original  and  pristine  purity.  The  contest  is  a 
glorious  one  ;  and  let  us  be  cheered  by  the  fact  that  the 
bold  and  daring  efforts  of  the  slave-power  to  arrest  the 
progress  of  free  principles  have  awakened  and  aroused 
the  country.  True,  that  power  has  won  a  brilliant  victory 
in  the  acquisition  of  Texas  ;  yet  it  is  only  one  victory  in 
her  series  of  victories  over  the  constitution  and  liberties  of 
the  country.  Other  fields  are  to  be  fought ;  and  if  we 
are  true  to  the  country,  to  freedom,  and  to  man,  the  future 
has  yet  a  Waterloo  in  store  for  the  supporters  of  this  unholy 
system.  The  tendencies  of  the  age  we  live  in  are  all  against 
slavery  ;  the  progress  of  literature  and  science  is  against  it ; 


SPEECH  IN    THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      73 

every  thing  that  is  beautiful  and  holy  in  the  works  of  God 
is  against  it ;  God  himself  is  against  it ;  and,  sooner  or  later, 
fall  it  must.  Let  us  not  be  the  last  to  engage  in  the  good 
work. 

"  Sir,  I  wish  for  the  adoption  of  this  resolution,  because 
thereby  Massachusetts  would  take  an  entirely  new  and 
noble  position.  It  is  clear,  distinct,  and  plain  in  its  terms, 
and  is  based  upon  the  aggressions  of  slavery  itself  upon 
freedom,  the  liberties,  the  rights,  of  the  people  of  the  coun 
try.  It  pledges  Massachusetts  to  resist  to  the  utmost  all 
extension  of  the  accursed  institution,  and  to  use  all  her  just 
powers  for  the  entire  extinction  of  the  whole  system.  Let 
her  adopt  this  sentiment,  and  act  in  accordance  with  it.  I 
wish  that  it  could  be  written,  in  the  words  of  Daniel  Web 
ster,  '  in  letters  of  light  on  the  blue  arch  of  heaven,  be 
tween  Orion  and  the  Pleiades,'  so  that  every  one  might 
see  and  read  it,  and  ponder  upon  it.  But  I  am  not  one  to 
believe  that  our  whole  duty  will  have  been  discharged  by 
the  adoption  of  a  resolution  of  this  character.  We  must 
make  its  principles  a  living  faith.  We  must  sustain  it  at 
any  cost  and  at  any  sacrifice.  We  must  send  to  the  halls 
of  Congress  men  ready  and  willing  at  all  times  to  support 
it.  We  must  carry  it  into  every  department  of  our  govern 
ment,  and  bring  the  whole  moral  force  and  power  of  the 
State  to  bear  in  favor  of  it ;  and  in  doing  this  we  shall  at 
last  inevitably  succeed. 

"It  is  asked  what  we  of  the  North  can  do.  Sir,  we 
can  prevent  slavery  from  ever  gaining  a  foothold  in  the 
vast  Territories  of  the  republic  ;  and  we  can  abolish  it  in 
the  District  of  Columbia.  And,  in  regard  to  this  point,  we 
of  Massachusetts  are  just  as  responsible  for  the  existence 
of  slavery  there  as  are  the  people  of  any  State  in  the 

Union  :  and  are  more  guilty  than  some ;  for  we  sin  against 
7 


74  LIFE  OF   HENHY   WILSON. 

our  own  convictions.  In  that  District  the  prisons  of  our 
own  government  are  converted  into  slave-pens ;  and  side 
by  side  with  our  national  public  edifices  are  private  prisons, 
where  our  fellow-beings  are  immured,  and  kept  for  sale  like 
cattle.  I  have  visited  one,  and  have  seen  crowds  of  slaves 
awaiting  purchasers,  thence  to  be  sent  to  the  cotton-fields 
and  sugar-plantations  of  the  far  South-west.  One  of  our 
own  representatives  told  me  that  he  saw  at  the  railroad 
de*p6t  a  poor  negro  woman  torn  away  from  her  children, 
shrieking  in  the  bitterness  of  her  agony,  and  reproaching 
her  owner  for  the  violation  of  his  promise  that  she  should 
not  be  separated  from  her  offspring.  A  distinguished  mem 
ber  of  Congress  from  South  Carolina  was  his  companion  at 
the  time,  and  exclaimed,  '  Great  God  !  what  a  sight  is  here  ! 
no  wonder  that  you  of  the  North  are  abolitionists  ! '  We 
can  stop  this  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  abolish 
throughout  the  country  this  vile  inter-state  slave-traffic ; 
and  the  world  and  God  will  hold  us  to  a  fearful  responsibil 
ity  until  we  do  it. 

"  Then  the  revenue  force  of  the  government  is  now 
used  to  prevent  the  escape  of  fugitive  slaves  ;  the  garrisons 
are  used  for  prisons,  and  the  army  is  the  mere  body-guard 
of  slavery ;  the  navy,  if  not  created,  is  used  almost  wholly 
(at  least  the  home  squadron),  for  the  protection  of  the  do 
mestic  slave-trade.  The  General  Government  can  correct 
all  this ;  and,  were  that  government  to  exercise  its  consti 
tutional  right  and  power,  slavery  would  die.  The  free 
States,  and  Massachusetts  among  them,  are  responsible  for 
this ;  for  they  have  the  power  to  do  it,  and  do  not  exercise 
it.  They  can  bring  the  whole  force  and  power  of  the  gov 
ernment  to  bear  in  favor  of  liberty.  They  can  change  the 
provisions  of  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  which  now  pro 
tect  slave-property.  As  the  Constitution  now  stands,  a 


SPEECH  IN  THE   HOUSE   OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      75 

slave  escaping  here  has  no  refuge,  no  protection  ;  and  the 
soil  of  oar  own  State  has  long  been  the  slaveholder's  hunt 
ing-ground.  The  panting  and  fleeing  fugitive,  with  blood 
hounds  at  his  heels,  may  enter  Faneuil  Hall,  and  he  is  still 
a  slave.  He  may  cast  himself  down  under  the  shadow  of 
yonder  monument,  and  he  is  still  a  slave.  He  may  come 
into  this  very  chamber,  or  penetrate  to  the  council-chamber 
of  the  executive  for  protection,  and  he  is  still  a  slave,  and 
his  master  can  drag  him  away  into  bondage.  The  law  and 
the  Constitution  that  allow  this  can  be  changed,  as  well, 
also,  as  that  provision  which  allows  a  representative  of  slave- 
property  in  the  national  councils.  This  subject  was  once 
acted  upon  by  this  legislature ;  and,  though  then  unsuccess 
ful,  repeated  and  constant  effort  will  enable  us  to  accom 
plish  the  end.  But  we  are  met  with  the  assertion  that  tha 
slaveholders  have  rights  under  the  Constitution,  and  that 
the  existence  of  their  property  was  guaranteed  by  that 
instrument.  Now,  I  undertake  to  say  that  the  Constitu 
tion  was  made  for  a  free  people.  The  whole  history  of 
the  country  from  1774  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution 
proves  this.  The  first  Congress  which  met  in  1774  de 
clared,  —  "••=»••: 

"  c  That  they  would  not  import  or  purchase  any  slaves  ; 
that  they  would  not  be  concerned  in  the  trade  themselves  ; 
and  that  they  would  neither  purchase  slaves,  use  ships  in 
the  slave-trade,  or  sell  their  commodities  and  manufactures 
to  those  engaged  in  that  traffic.' 

"  The  Congress  of  1774  declared,  4  God  never  intended 
a  part  of  the  human  race  to  hold  an  absolute  property  in, 
and  an  unbounded  power  over,  others.' 

"  The  ordinance  of  1787  for  the  government  of  the 
North-west  Territory,  drawn  up  by  a  distinguished  son 
of  Massachusetts,  expressly  and  fcrever  prohibited  sla- 


76  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

very  throughout  that  vast  region.  From  1775  to  1789, 
six  of  the"  States  abolished  slavery  within  their  limits.  If 
we  look  at  the  Madison  papers,  and  into  the  debates  of  the 
several  State  conventions  for  the  adoption  of  the  Con 
stitution,  we  shall  find  it  established  as  clear  as  noonday 
light,  that  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  never  enter- 
tained  the  idea  of  the  long  continuance,  far  less  the  spread, 
of  this  great  wrong  ;  but  the  universal  opinion  was  that 
slavery  would  soon  die  out,  and  be  forever  extinguished. 
Such  was  the  opinion  of  the  Washingtons,  Jeffersons, 
Madisons,  Henrys,  Masons,  and  Martins  of  the  South ;  of 
the  Jays,  Gerrys,  Hancocks,  Rushes,  Adamses,  Franklins, 
and  Hamiltons  of  the  North.  They  thought  that  every 
where  the  institution  would  soon  pass  away  under  the 
influence  of  our  higher  civilization  and  larger  liberty. 
The  whole  concurrent  testimony  of  all  these  great  men, 
some  of  whom  were  among  the  purest  and  best  characters 
the  world  has  ever  produced,  proves  that  they  all  held 
this  opinion  and  held  this  belief.  We  had  no  statesmen 
then  who  believed  that  *  slavery  was  the  corner-stone  of 
the  republican  edifice.' 

"  But,  say  some,  the  abolition  of  slavery  and  the  agitation 
of  the  subject  will  lead  to  dissolution  of  the  Union.  Now, 
sir,  I  profess  to  be,  and  am,  as  strongly  attached  as  any 
man  to  the  union  of  these  States.  From  boyhood  I  have 
been  taught  to  regard  disunion  —  in  the  words  of  Daniel 
Webster  —  as  plunging  the  country  into  *  the  gulf  of  fire 
and  blackness.'  I  wish  to  see  the  whole  country,  from 
North  to  South,  from  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  those 
of  the  Pacific,  one  country,  great,  glorious,  and  free,  — 
an  example  for  ill  the  nations.  I  am  for  '  liberty  and 
union ; "  but  it  must  be  '  liberty  and  union.'  At  all 
events,  I  am  for  liberty ;  and  if  dissolution  of  the  Union 


SPEECH  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      77 

must  be  the  result  of  the  abolition  of  slavery,  or  of  lawful 
and  constitutional  action,  why,  then,  let  that  dissolution 
come.  Let  the  Union  go  ;  the  sooner,  the  better.  Better 
have  liberty  without  union  than  union  without  liberty. 
But  let  me  ask  of  these  grave  and  conservative  gentlemen 
who  deprecate  the  agitation  of  this  question,  who  would 
keep  the  subject  of  slavery  out  of  sight  forever,  lest  its 
discussion  should  hazard  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union,  01 
change  or  modify  existing  institutions,  would  they,  if 
living  at  the  time,  have  been  found  among  the  small  flock 
gathered  around  Brewster  and  Robinson  on  the  wild, 
barren  heaths  of  Lincolnshire  ?  Would  they  have  been 
on  board  '  The  Mayflower  '  ?  Would  they  have  gathered 
with  them  in  council  to  lay  in  prayers  the  foundation 
of  a  Christian  commonwealth  ?  Would  they  have  been 
among  the  choice  spirits  rallying  around  and  support 
ing  Adams  and  Hancock?  Would  they  have  followed 
Warren  to  Bunker  Hill  ?  No,  sir ;  no !  They  would 
have  preached  moderation.  They  would  have  kept  aloof 
from  the  contests,  if  possible ;  have  left  the  country 
rather  than  meet  the  crisis;  and,  if  compelled  to  take 
a  decisive  part,  would  probably  have  been  found  arrayed 
against  liberty,  and  on  the  side  of  the  stronger  power. 
They  worship  the  past,  gild  their  fathers'  sepulchres,  but 
crucify  all  that  is  noble  of  the  present.  Such  men  as 
these  now  call  themselves  conservators  of  our  institutions, 
and  oppose  all  attempts  to  agitate  the  momentous  ques 
tion  of  the  abolition  of  slavery.  Away  with  such  stuff! 
I  am  sick  of  it.  He  alone  is  the  true  conservative  who 
takes  his  stand  on  the  foundation  of  justice  and  right, 
and  maintains  that  position  to  the  last. 

u  Our  opponents  seek  to  portray  in  vivid  colors  the  ter 
rible  dangers  that  would  attend  the  abolition  of  slavery. 
7» 


78  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

But  look  at  this  a  moment.  Eight  of  our  States  have 
emancipated  all  the  slaves  within  their  borders,  and  no 
difficulty  whatever  has  followed.  None  of  these  dreadful 
evils  have  occurred  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  every  thing  has 
worked  well,  and  to  the  greatly-increased  prosperity  of 
such  States.  And  we  have  a  more  recent  example  in  the 
British  West-India  islands,  where  circumstances  were 
infinitely  more  unfavorable  to  the  success  of  emancipation 
than  they  are  with  us ;  where  the  planters  to  a  man 
were  deadly  opponents  of  the  scheme ;  where  the  blacks 
and  slaves  were  as  nearly  ten  to  one  of  the  whites  free. 
Yet  the  project  was  carried  out,  and  no  harm  has  been  the 
result :  so  far  from  it,  indeed,  that,  whereas  nearly  all  the 
planters  were  bankrupt  before  the  abolition,  their  condition 
is  now  vastly  more  prosperous ;  and  whereas  the  slaves 
were  then  dying  off  at  the  rate  of  five  thousand  per  year, 
under  the  pressure  of  the  lash,  to  save  the  island  from 
bankruptcy,  the  health  and  condition,  moral,  social,  and 
intellectual,  of  the  colored  race,  now  free,  has  greatly, 
almost  wonderfully,  improved.  All  this  is  established  by 
irrefragable  testimony  ;  and  it  far  outweighs  all  the  argu 
ments  and  fears,  real  or  pretended,  of  the  opponents  of 
emancipation. 

"  This  emancipation  of  the  West-India  slaves  was  con 
ceived  and  carried  out,  not  by  the  planters  and  owners  of 
the  slaves,  but  by  England.  This  very  act  is  the  brightest 
gem  in  her  diadem  of  glory.  It  will  live  forever  in  the 
remembrance  of  mankind,  even  if  the  memory  of  her 
arms,  literature,  and  arts,  the  achievements  of  her 
Nelson  and  Wellington,  the  works  of  her  Shakspeare 
and  Milton,  should  pass  away  into  .oblivion.  If  her 
power  should  be  broken  forever,  and  if  she  should  to* 
morrow  sink  beneath  the  ocean,  and  the  waves  of  the 


SPEECH  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPBESENTATIVES.      79 

Atlantic  roll  over  the  place  where  she  now  stands,  still  the 
renown  of  this  great  work,  by  which  she  taxed  her  own 
people  a  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  and  gave  liberty  to 
eight  hundred  thousand  men  three  thousand  miles  away 
sunk  in  the  lowest  depths  of  degradation,  will  endure 
through  all  time,  and  be  quoted  and  commended  by  the 
lovers  of  freedom.  Sir,  it  was  the  saying  of  a  famous 
Athenian  that  the  glory  of  his  rival  would  not  permit 
him  to  sleep.  I  trust  that  the  glory  England  has  acquired 
by  this  measure  will  not  suffer  us  of  America  to  slumber 
till  we  have  emulated  her  example.  I  love  not  England  ; 
I  am  not  dazzled  by  her  power  :  but  I  envy  her  the  glory 
of  that  great  achievement. 

"  But  we  are  again  met  with  the  argument  that  we  are 
a  commercial  people,  and  cannot  afford  to  disturb  our  rela 
tions  with  the  rest  of  the  country.  Now,  it  is  a  notorious 
fact  that  the  slave  States  do  not  pay  dollar  for  dollar  what 
they  purchase  from  us.  I  know  what  I  say ;  for  I  have 
examined  the  subject.  There  are  many  manufacturing 
towns  and  villages  in  our  State  that  have  lost  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars  by  their  dealings  with  the  South :  my 
own  town  has  large  business-connections  there,  and  has 
been  one  of  the  sufferers.  Our  prosperity,  so  universally 
diffused  among  us,  is  the  result  of  ceaseless  and  untiring 
industry.  Slavery,  sir,  cannot  support  itself.  The  slave- 
holding  power  draws  its  living  from  the  heart's  blood  of 
the  slave,  and  the  toil  and  the  sweat  of  the  hard-handed 
free  laborer  of  the  North.  Our  mariners  brave  the  dan 
gers  and  endure  the  tempests  of  the  deep  ;  our  farmers 
till  a  hard  and  barren  soil  for  a  scanty  subsistence ;  our 
mechanics  and  artisans  labor  all  their  days  at  their  forges 
and  in  their  work-shops  ;  and  a  great  part  of  the  fruit  of 
their  honest  toil  is  drawn  from  them  to  support  the  slave 


80  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

aristocracy  of  the  Southern  States.  What  they  cannot  whip 
out  of  their  negroes  they  cheat  out  of  us.  I  would  rather 
that  our  noble  ships  that  now  whiten  every  sea  should  go 
down  to  their  graves  beneath  the  dark  rolling  billows  of  the 
deep,  and  our  manufacturing  villages  be  levelled  with  the 
dust,  so  that  a  squadron  of  cavalry  could  gallop  over  them 
unimpeded  as  the  wild  steeds  sweep  over  the  ruined  cities 
of  the  desert,  than  that  Massachusetts  should  forget  her 
duty,  forsake  her  principles,  and  bow  down  and  crawl  and 
grovel  at  the  feet  of  the  slave-power.  Better,  far  better, 
that  her  sons  should  till  her  cold  and  barren  soil,  and  cast 
their  nets  into  the  deep  for  a  poor  subsistence,  than  that 
her  coffers  should  be  filled  with  gold  soiled  and  dimmed 
by  the  blood  and  tears  of  the  bondman. 

."  We  are  often  told,  sir,  that  this  agitation  of  slavery 
can  do  no  good  ;  that  it  has  thrown  back  emancipation  for 
half  a  century.  This  is  all  sheer  nonsense.  Emancipation 
is  not  only  nearer  in  point  of  time,  but  it  is  nearer  in 
point  of  preparation.  We  often  hear  the  same  sage  and 
profound  observations  upon  the  great  and  kindred  cause  of 
temperance,  and  with  just  as  much  reason.  The  press,  at 
least  in  the  free  States,  now  often  utters  its  voice  for  the 
slave  ;  faint  and  feeble,  it  is  true.  Ten  years  ago  it  was 
dumb,  or  sided  with  the  oppressor.  Religious  societies  and 
associations  are  discussing  and  deciding  upon  it.  The 
cause  of  the  slave  is  now  advocated  in  most  of  our  North 
ern  pulpits :  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  land  is  setting 
in  favor  of  the  poor  bondman,  recognizing  him  as  a  man 
and  a  brother.  The  friends  of  freedom  can  utter  their 
sentiments  now  without  being  beaten  down  by  mobs  of 
'  gentlemen  of  property  and  standing.'  A  great  change 
has  also  taken  place  in  the  slave  States.  Ten  years  ago  it 
was  dangerous  to  utter  a  word  against  slavery  in  the 


SPEECH  IN  THE  HOUSE   OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      81 

capital  of  the  nation :  now  one  can  speak  of  slavery  out 
of  the  halls  of  Congress  with  freedom.  It  can  be  estab 
lished  by  the  records  and  reports  of  the  religious  societies 
of  the  Southern  States  that  more  has  been  accomplished  for 
the  improvement  of  the  slave  than  at  any  similar  time  in 
our  history.  We  are  told  that  we  shall  stand  alone.  I 
have  no  objection  to  that  if  we  stand  in  the  right.  Massa 
chusetts  is  used  to  standing  alone.  The  gentleman  from 
Stockbridge  (Mr.  Byington),  upon  another  question  the 
other  day,  said  that  Massachusetts  exerted  a  vast  influence 
on  the  new  States  of  the  confederacy,  and  that  many  of  her 
sons  went  forth  to  mould  and  fashion  her  institutions.  It 
is  all  true  :  and  yet,  notwithstanding  she  has  long  been  the 
pattern  State  of  the  Union,  she  is  under  the  ban  of  the 
empire  ;  she  is  regarded  with  a  jealous  eye,  and  as  little 
better  than  a  conquered  province.  Her  people  are  almost 
ostracized  by  the  government.  An  occasional  sop  is  now 
and  then  thrown  out  to  some  of  them  if  they  are  false  to  her, 
and  true  to  the  peculiar  institution;  and,  for  one,  I  wish 
that  not  a  single  individual  of  her  people  could  be  found 
willing  to  take  office  under  the  National  Government  while 

& 

wedded  to  slavery.  Let  us  have  one  of  Cromwell's  self- 
denying  ordinances  while  the  government  remains  as  it  now 
is.  If  it  be  her  destiny  to  stand  alone  in  support  of  the  right, 
alone  let  her  stand,  —  alone,  sir,  in  the  language  of  one  of 
her  sons  who  now  sleeps  by  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut,  — 

ALONE    LET    HER    STAND    IN    SOLITARY    GRANDEUR.       When 

the  passions  of  the  hour  shall  be  hushed,  I  desire  that  the 
historic  pen  that  shall  record  in  letters  of  light  for  the 
studv  of  after-ao-es  the  acts  of  this  great  struo^le  shall 

J  O  O  OC5 

record  the  glorious  fact,  that  there  was  one  State,  one  free 
Commonwealth,  that  was  faithful  among  the  faithless  to  the 
teachings  of  the  founders  of  the  republic. 


LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

"  But  she  will  not  stand  alone  if  she  does  her  duty.  Look 
at  the  present  condition  of  affairs  in  the  former  Gibraltar 
of  the  slave-power  of  the  North,  and  behold  a  proof  of  this. 
Not  Georgia,  nor  even  South  Carolina  herself,  has  ever 
been  more  subservient  and  obsequious  to  the  will  of  the 
slaveholding  portion  of  the  country  than  has  New  Hamp 
shire  ;  yet  her  granite  hills  are  shaking  and  trembling  to 
day  to  the  earthquake-voice  of  her  citizens,  aroused  at  last 
to  a  conviction  of  their  duties  and  their  rights.  So  will  it 
be  elsewhere. 

"  Let  Massachusetts  but  do  her  duty,  and  other  States 
will  rally  round  her,  and  she  will  lead  them  on  to  the 
rescue  of  the  constitution  and  the  government  from  the 

o 

slave-power.  Her  high  and  lofty  principles,  her  stern  and 
lofty  purposes,  may  be  sneered  at  and  derided  ;  timid 
friends  may  chide  her  :  but  the  stout-hearted  and  true  all 
over  the  land  will  gather  round  her.  Standing  on  the 
broad  and  elevated  platform  of  equal  rights,  living  out 
and  illustrating  her  own  great  principles,  she  will  speak  to 
her  sister  States  with  a  thousand  tongues.  She  will  come 
to  the  rescue.  She  will  be  the  standard-bearer  in  the 
contest.  She  led  the  van  in  the  great  struggle  for  inde 
pendence  :  then  the  post  of  danger  was  hers.  She  has  a 
right  to  lead  now.  Her  descent  from  the  sturdy  old  Puri 
tan  stock,  her  free  labor  and  her  free  schools,  all  point 
her  out  as  the  leader  in  the  great  struggle  between  freedom 
and  slavery.  South  Carolina  has  placed  herself  in  ad 
vance  as  the  leader  of  the  cohorts  of  slavery.  Let  the 
descendants  of  the  old  Cavaliers  and  Puritans  meet 
once  more,  not  as  their  fathers  met  on  the  fields  of 
Naseby  and  Worcester,  but  in  the  stern  conflict  of  opin 
ion.  I  have  no  fears  for  the  issue.  Every  thing  will 
be  with  us :  the  free  impulses  of  the  age  will  be  with 


SPEECH  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      83 

us  ;  civilization  will  be  with  us  ;  the  wild  and  generous 
impulses  of  the  human  heart  will  b&  with  us  ;  and  God  will 
be  with  us.  Cassius  M.  Clays  will  arise  in  all  the  slave 
States,  pointing  them  to  our  example. 

"  Our  country  was  the  child  of  hope  and  expectation 
When  our  fathers  launched  our  go veniment  upon  the  tide, 
the  prayers,  hopes,  and  sympathies  of  the  friends  of  libera! 
institutions  throughout  the  globe  were  with  us.  Tho 
oppressed  began  to  hope  for  self-government  ;  and  they 
looked  hither  with  trembling  anxiety  to  see  how  we  should 
carry  out  in  practice  our  sublime  declaration  of  the  equality 
and  freedom  of  all  men.  We  have  not,  perhaps,  lived  in 
vain.  Had  America  been  true  to  herself,  to  her  own 
sublime  principles,  the  friends  of  religious,  social,  and 
civil  liberty  everywhere  would  have  taken  courage  from 
her  example,  and  the  oppressors  of  our  race  would  have 
loosed  their  hold  upon  unjust  power :  there  is  hardly  a 
throne  upon  the  globe  but  would  now  be  tottering  to  its 
fall.  Ours  is  the  duty,  be  ours  the  glory,  to  rescue  our 
country  from  the  '  dominion,  curse,  and  shame  of  slavery, 
and  make  her  great  and  glorious  among  the  nations.' 
The  past  with  its  crowded  memories  of  the  tears  and  labors 
of  the  martyrs  of  truth  who  have  perished  on  the  field, 
the  scaffold,  and  in  the  dungeon,  the  present  with  its  warm 
and  generous  sympathies,  and  the  future  with  its  high 
hopes  and  brilliant  expectations,  all  cheer  us  onward  in  the 
path  of  duty  and  of  glory. 

"  I  do  not  wish  to  '  allude  to  parties ; '  and  yet  I  cannot  well 
avoid  it.  I  have  recommended  that  the  State  should  take 
a  bold  stand  against  slavery ;  and  I  am  willing  that  the 
majority  here  shall  be  held  responsible  for  it,  as  they  will 
surely  be.  It  is  alike  undeniable  and  notorious,  that,  during 
the  struggles  of  the  last  ten  years,  the  party  now  in  the 


84  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

majority  here  has  generally  been  arrayed  on  the  side  of 
liberty  on  all  the  incidental  questions  that  have  arisen.  It 
has  gone  just  far  enough  to  lose  the  confidence  and  sym 
pathy  of  the  South,  and  to  encounter  defeat  in  almost 
every  thing ;  but  it  lias  not  gone  far  enough  to  gain  the 
entire  confidence  and  obtain  the  support  of  the  free  im 
pulses  of  the  North.  On  the  other  hand,  our  opponents, 
the  party  here  in  the  minority,  it  is  equally  notorious 
and  undeniable,  have  usually  sided  with  the  slave-power 
on  all  the  questions  connected  with  the  interests  of  slavery  ; 
and  they  stand  in  that  posture  to-day,  committed  —  fully 
and  entirely  committed  —  to  slavery  and  the  slave-power. 

"  Thus  far  they  have  reaped  all  the  advantages  of  such 
subserviency ;  but  hereafter,  when,  in  the  contests  of  the 
future,  a  day  of  retribution  shall  come,  —  as  come  it  surely 
will,  —  they  will  find  themselves  by  their  own  folly  placed 
in  a  position  of  shame,  defeat,  and  disgrace,  as  opponents 
of  the  progress  of  liberty,  enlightenment,  and  civilization. 

"Sir,  I  wish  to  have  'Emancipation '  inscribed  on  the  ban 
ners  under  which  we  rally,  in  characters  of  living  light, 
and  also  that  we  go  for  '  the  protection  of  man.'  We  go 
for  the  protection  of  his  labor :  let  us  give  security,  first 
to  himself,  and  afterwards  to  his  labor.  That  is  the  true 
ground  we  must  take ;  and,  if  it  be  taken  boldly  and  man 
fully,  I  am  willing  to  risk  myself,  and  all  that  I  have  or 
hope  for,  on  the  issue,  confident  that  in  five  years  our 
cause  will  sweep  through  the  country  like  a  tornado.  We 
shall  carry  every  free  State  with  a  whirlwind :  it  will  go 
like  the  fire  over  the  prairies  of  the  West.  If  not,  we  are 
accustomed  to  defeat ;  and  it  is  far  better  to  be  in  the  right 
than  to  hold  the  reins  of  government,  and  roll  in  wealth 
and  power.  I  say  without  hesitation,  that  the  stand  I  hava 
sp9ken  of  we  must  take.  We  cannot  resist  so  doing  if 


SPEECH  IN  THE   HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      85 

we  would.  It  is  our  '  manifest  destiny.'  Even  were  we 
base  enough  to  desire  it,  we  could  not  regain  our  influence 
with  the  slaveholding  South  by  any  means  ;  no,  not  by  the 
veriest  servile  and  wretched  truckling  to  all  her  arrogant 
demands.  I  would  not  regain  it  if  we  could.  Then,  in 
Heaven's  name,  let  us  go  on  in  the  right.  If  victory  come, 
let  us  hail  and  improve  it :  if,  on  the  contrary,  defeat  be 
our  lot,  it  will  be  a  glorious  defeat;  for  we  shall  have 
been  right,  and  shall  have  deserved  success.  At  any  rate, 
we  shall  do  something  for  our  race,  something  for  liberty, 
which  will  secure  for  us  the  confidence  and  the  respect  of 
the  good  and  the  true.  A  single  word,  Mr.  Speaker,  of 
a  personal  character,  and  I  shall  have  done.  I  have  ever 
been  and  am  a  party  man ;  and  I  shall  always  go  with  my 
party  in  what  I  think  right  and  best :  but  I  am  de 
termined  never  to  be  either  driven  or  kicked  out  of  any 
party  with  which  I  may  choose  to  act ;  and  it  is  my  pride 
to  believe  that  four-fifths  of  the  party  now  in  the  majority 
in  this  State  concur  in  the  view  I  take  of  this  subject,  and 
are  anxious  that  we  should  commit  Massachusetts  against 

O 

slavery.     It  is  so  especially  with  regard  to  the  young  men, 

—  those  who  are  shortly  to  hold  the  reins  of  power.     The 
city  influence  is,  I  know,   the  other  way ;  but,  sir,   '  the 
gods  of  the  valleys  are  not  the  gods  of  the  hills.' 

"  For  one,  I  am  ready  to  stand  with  any  man,  or  set  of 
men,  — Whig,  Democrat,  Abolitionist,  Christian,  cr  Infidel, 

—  who  will  go  with  me  in  the  cause  of  emancipation. 

"  It  is  unpleasant  to  me  to  say  what  I  have  now  said ;  it 
is  painful  to  differ  from  esteemed  and  respected  friends 
whose  good  opinion  we  value.  I  know  the  feelings  of 
many  who  hear  me.  All  sorts  of  unworthy  motives  will 
be  ascribed  to  me,  and  my  judgment  and  discretion  ques 
tioned.  Sir,  I  have  no  personal  motive :  I  see  nothing  to 
8 


86  LIFE  OF  HENKY  WILSON. 

be  gained,  and  something  to  be  lost.  At  any  rate,  I  know 
I  shall  lose  the  good  opinion  of  some  friends,  who  will 
doubtless  regard  me  as  a  fanatic.  But  I  have  made  up 
my  mind,  after  some  little  reflection,  that  we  must  either 
destroy  slavery,  or  slavery  will  destroy  our  government 
and  our  liberties  ;  and  I  had  far  rather  act  according  to 
the  dictates  of  duty  and  of  patriotism  than  to  receive  the 
approving  smiles  of  friends.  I  shall  go  for  the  abolition 
of  slavery  at  all  times  and  on  all  occasions,  now  and 
hereafter.  I  loathe,  detest,  and  abhor  it.  It  is  at  war  with 
Nature  and  Nature's  God. 

"  I  have  no  apologies  to  make  for  it ;  and  no  hope  of 
political  reward,  no  fear  of  ridicule  or  reproach,  shall  ever 
deter  me  from  using  all  the  moral  and  political  influence  I 
possess,  in  such  a  manner  as  my  judgment  shall  approve, 
to  accomplish  the  entire  extinction  of  slavery,  and  to  make 
my  native  land,  which  I  love  with  the  affection  of  a  son, 
what  it  should  be,  —  glorious  and  free,  and  an  example  to 
all  nations. " 

This  resolution,  so  ably  advocated,  was,  after  much  dis 
cussion  and  excitement,  adopted  in  the  House  by  ninety- 
three  majority :  in  the  Senate,  which  was  more  conserva 
tive,  it  was  lost  by  four  votes.  In  the  minds  of  the  people 
it  lived,  inspiring  noble  hearts,  and  calling  to  the  rescue 
of  the  bondman. 

Mr.  Wilson  was  no  revolutionist,  except  through 
constitutional  and  legal  means.  He  loved  the  Union  :  he 
had  no  desire  in  any  event,  as  an  aggressor,  to  appeal  to 
arms.  He  believed,  that,  under  the  Constitution,  Southern 
men  had  no  right  to  extend  slavery  over  our  territorial 
domains ;  and  on  that  ground  he  would  meet  the  question. 
When,  on  the  3d  of  March,  he  presented  to  the  House  a 


SPEECH  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF   REPRESENTATIVES.      87 

memorial  from  Francis  Jackson  for  the  withdrawal  from 
Congress  of  the  Massachusetts  delegation,  and  the  conse 
quent  dissolution  of  the  Union,  he  declared  that  he  held 
the  right  of  petition  sacred  ;  that  he  was  for  the  abolition 
of  slavery :  but,  continued  he,  "  it  must  be  accomplished 
under,  by,  and  through  the  Constitution  ;  "  not  by  violence, 
but  by  "  sovereign  law,"  the  u  collected  will  "  of  the  peo 
ple,  which 

"  O'er  thrones  and  globes  elate, 
Sits  empress,  crowning  good,  repressing  ill," 


CHAPTER    VI. 

POPULARITY    WITH    THE    PEOPLE. FORMATION     OF     THE 

FREE-SOIL   PARTY. COURSE    IN    THE    STATE    LEGISLA 
TURE.  ADDRESS    OF  WELCOME    TO    GOV.  KOSSUTH. 


Regard  of  the  People.  —  Delegate  to  the  National  Convention.  —  Withdraws 
from  that  Body.  —  Origin  of  the  Free-soil  Party.  —  "  Boston  Republican." 

—  Editor  of.  — Its  Principles  and  Influence. —  Chairman  of  Free-soil  State 
Committee.  —  Member  of  the  House,  1850.  — Mr.  Webster's  7th-of-March 
Speech. — The    Coalition.  —  Election    of    Mr.   Sumner    to    United-States 
Senate,  1851.  —  Mr.  Sumner's  Letter.  —  Mr.  Wilson  made  Chairman  of  the 
Senate  that  Year. — Address  on  taking  the  Chair. — A  Contrast. —  "The 
Liberator."  —  Harvard  University.  —  Thanks   of   the   Senate,  and  Closing 
Address.  — Delegate  to  Pittsburg.  —  Candidate  for  Congress,  1852.  —  Chair 
man  of  the  Senate,  1852.  —  His  Course  in  the  Senate.  —  Welcome  to  Kossuth. 

—  Sympathy  between  them.  —  His  Punctuality.  —  Gold  Watch. 


IN  the  autumn  of  1847  Mr.  Wilson  declined  being  a 
candidate  for  the  legislature  ;  but  through  his  generous 
sympathies,  temperate  habits,  and  uprightness  as  a  man, 
his  intelligence  and  sagacity  as  a  legislator,  and  his  steady 
adherence  to  the  principles  tf  human  freedom  and  the 
interests  of  the  working-classes,  he  was  still  gaining  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  the  people.  Even  those  who 
looked  contemptuously  upon  him  as  rising  from  the  work 
shop  of  a  shoemaker  were  obliged  to  admit  his  eminent 
ability  as  a  speaker  and  leader.  His  bold,  direct,  and 
logical  speech,  in  the  House  of  the  last  year,  on  slavery, 

88 


POPULARITY  WITH  THE  PEOPLE.  89 

had  turned  the  thoughts  of  the  abolitionists  to  him  as  their 
legislative  champion . 

The  laboring-people,  from  whom  he  had  sprung,  and  of 
whose  opinions  he  was,  perhaps,  the  best  exponent  in  the 
State,  were  proud  of  his  success,  and  entertained  for  him 
increasing  admiration  and  esteem.  They  held  even  then 
—  for  in  this  country  they  have  always  had  the  clearest 
vision  of  impending  crises — that  we  were  on  the  eve  of 
great  political  events,  and  that  he  would  be  the  man  for 
the  occasion. 

On  the  death  of  John  Quincy  Adams  in  February, 
1848,  and  the  consequent  vacancy  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  a  Whig  convention  was  held  in  Dedham  to 
select  a  candidate  to  supply  his  place.  The  three  leading 
men  for  whom  that  body  had  a  preference  were  Henry 
Wilson,  William  Jackson,  and  Horace  Mann.  After  the 
third  balloting,  Mr.  Wilson  withdrew  his  name  in  favor 
of  Mr.  Mann,  who  was  nominated.  The  convention  then, 
by  an  almost  unanimous  vote,  appointed  Mr.  Wilson 
delegate  to  the  Whig  National  Convention  to  be  held  in 
Philadelphia  in  the  ensuing  month  of  June.  He  sup 
ported  Mr.  Webster  for  president  in  that  convention  on 
account  of  his  principles  in  favor  of  liberty  ;  yet  he  had 
misgivings  in  regard  to  this  statesman's  position  on  this 
question,  which  were  sadly  realized  in  1850.  He  had 
previously  declared  in  public  and  in  private,  that  if 
Gen.  Taylor  should  receive  the  vote  of  the  Whig  party  in 
that  convention,  unpledged  to  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  he  not 
only  would  not  support  him,  but  would  do  all  in  his  power 
to  defeat  him.  The  convention  nominated  Gen.  Taylor 
for  the  presidency.  Mr.  Wilson,  and  his  colleague  Mr. 
Charles  Allen,  denounced  the  action  of  the  convention, 
and,  retiring  from  it,  held  a  meeting  of  a  few  Northern 


90  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

men,  and  appointed  a  committee,  who,  with  others,  called 
the  Buffalo  Convention,  where  Mr.  Van  Buren  received 
the  nomination. 

Returning  home,  Mr.  Wilson  and  his  associates  held  a 
sonvention  in  the  city  of  Worcester  on  the  28th  of  June. 
It  was  large  and  enthusiastic.  The  subserviency  of  the 
Whig  party  to  the  interests  of  the  South  was  fully  dis 
cussed,  and  its  inadequacy  and  unwillingness  to  meet  the 
demands  of  freedom  and  the  progressive  spirit  of  the  age 
were  most  eloquently  set  forth.  For  the  vindication  of 
free  labor,  for  the  maintenance  of  freedom  in  the  Ter 
ritories,  for  resistance  to  the  aggressive  policy  of  the 
South,  which  bo  h  Northern  Whigs  and  Democrats,  though 
to  some  extent  in  words  opposing,  still  accepted  in  acts, 
the  organization  of  the  Free-soil  party  was  begun.  "  A 
few  days  after,"  Mr.  Wilson  said,  "  I  called  on  Mr.  Web 
ster  at  his  own  request ;  and  he  expressed  his  cordial 
assent  to  the  principles  of  the  convention."  Untiring  in 
his  endeavors  to  arouse  the  North  to  a  sense  of  the 
nation's  injustice  towards  the  slave,  Mr.  Wilson  in  Sep 
tember  purchased  "  The  Boston  Republican,"  which  he 
edited  with  signal  ability  from  the  autumn  of  1848  to 
January,  1851,  defending  steadily  the  principles  of  free 
dom,  and  holding  an  advanced  position  in  civil,  social,  and 
political  reform.  It  was  the  chief  organ  of  the  Free-soil 
party,  of  which  he  was  the  acknowledged  leader  ;  and 
it  was  continued  one  year  as  a  daily  paper.  The  articles 
of  agreement  between  Mr.  Wilson  and  the  publishers  of 
the  paper  are  dated  Boston,  Nov.  11,  1848 :  "  The  sub 
scribers,  Henry  Wilson  of  the  first  part,  William  S.  Dam- 
rell  of  the  second  part,  and  Curtis  C.  Nichols  of  the  third 
part,  have  this  day  formed  a  copartnership,  to  be  known 
as  the  firm  of  Wilson,  Damrell,  and  Co.,  for  the  purpose  of 


FORMATION   OF   THE  FREE-SOIL  PARTY.  9J 

publishing  '  The  Daily  Republican,'  '  Semi-weekly  Repub 
lican/  and  '  Weekly  Emancipator  and  Republican.' '  The 
political  creed  of  the  paper  was,  "  No  extension  of  slavery 
over  the  Territories ;  no  more  slave  territory  to  be  added 
to  the  Union ;  no  more  slave  States  to  be  admitted  into 
the  Union ;  no  compromise  with  slavery  must  be  made." 
Mr.  Wilson  wrote  most  of  the  original  articles,  including 
the  book-notices,  for  the  paper ;  but  was  sometimes  assisted 
by  Mr.  William  S.  Robinson  and  other  political  and  literary 
friends.  On  retiring  from  the  paper,  he  found  that  he  had 
lost  something  like  seven  thousand  dollars  in  the  enter 
prise  ;  yet  it  had  been  of  essential  service  to  the  Free-soil 
party,  and  he  cheerfully  submitted  to  the  pecuniary  dam 
age.  It  was  an  effective  educator  of  the  people  in  respect 
to  the  cardinal  doctrines  involved  in  that  irresistible  con 
flict  between  free  and  slave  labor  which  is  now  forever 
settled  on  this  continent. 

Appointed  chairman  of  the  Free-soil  State  Committee 
in  1849,  he  most  industriously  labored,  by  the  circulation 
of  pamphlets  and  by  delivering  addresses  in  various  sec 
tions  of  the  State,  as  well  as  through  the  columns  of  "  The 
Republican,"  for  the  advancement  of  the  party.  Four 
years  he  spent  in  this  capacity ;  and  they  were  years  of 
ceaseless  vigilance  and  toil :  yet  by  these  exertions  he  was 
not  only  deepening  the  antislavery  sentiment  of  the  State, 
but  also  gaining  wisdom  and  experience  for  sterner  effort 
and  severer  conflict.  When  Heaven  has  something  great 
and  good  for  any  man  to  do,  it  prepares  and  proves  him 
for  the  occasion. 

In  1850  Mr.  Wilson  was  again  a  member  of  the  lower 
branch  of  the  State  Legislature,  where  he  labored  with  his 
accustomed  zeal  and  energy.  The  Free-soil  members  gave 
him  their  votes  for  the  speakership ;  but  he  was  not 


92  UFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

elected.  He  had  been  urged  by  his  own  party  and  the 
Democrats  in  union  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  Senate  ; 
but  he  preferred  a  seat  in  the  more  popular  body,  as  hav 
ing  broader  influence. 

It  was  during  the  session  of  this  legislature  that  Mr. 
Webster  made  his  Tth-of-March  speech  on  Mr.  Clay's 
resolutions  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  The  senti 
ment  of  the  North  was  deeply  wounded  by  it.  Mr.  Wilson 
fearlessly  declared  to  the  House  that  the  people  would 
repudiate  that  speech  and  those  who  should  indorse  it ; 
and  that,  at  the  next  election,  the  deserters  from  the  cause 
of  freedom  would  surely  find  themselves  deserted.  His 
words,  though  meeting  the  defiance  of  many  of  the  leading 
Whigs,  proved  true.  By  the  famous  coalition  of  the 
Free-soil  and  the  Democratic  parties,  the  Whig  party  of 
Massachusetts,  once  so  strong  and  so  triumphant,  was 
defeated.  This  coalition,  Mr.  Wilson,  for  the  most  part, 
organized.  Calling  together  the  State  Committee  and 
about  seventy  members  of  his  own  party  at  the  Adams 
House  in  Boston  in  the  summer  of  1850,  he  declared  to 
them  that  Mr.  Webster's  speech  and  Mr.  Fillmore's  timid 
administration  could  be  condemned  ;  that  a  member  of  the 
Free-soil  party  could  be  sent  to  the  United-States  Senate 
to  take  the  place  of  Mr.  Webster  (made  secretary  of 
state)  for  the  long  term,  and  a  member  of  the  Democratic 
party  for  the  short  term ;  and  that  thus  antislavery  men 
could  be  brought  to  control  the  policy  of  the  State.  After 
a  long  and  animated  discussion,  the  meeting  refused  to 
form  the  coalition :  but  Mr.  Wilson  and  his  friends  laid 
the  scheme  before  the  people,  who  accepted  it,  and, 
through  the  legislature,  elected  George  S.  Bout  well  as 
governor;  and  the  General  Court,  after  a  long  and  bitter 
contest  and  many  ballotings,  in  1851,  sent  Charles  Sum- 


FOKMATION  OF  THE  FREE-SOIL  PABTY.  93 

ner  to  the  United-States  Senate  for  the  long  term,  choos 
ing  also  Robert  Rantoul,  a  Democrat,  for  the  other  term. 

Many  causes  —  such  as  the  persistent  labors  of  antislavery 
men  through  public  addresses  and  the  press,  the  general 
awakening  of  the  people  to  the  insolent  aggressions  of  the 
Southern  demagogues,  and  the  course  of  Mr.  Webster  — 
conspired  to  aid  this  triumph  of  the  friends  of  freedom  ; 
but  all  admitted  that  it  was  largely  due  to  the  sagacity,  the 
organizing  power,  and  the  unremitting  activity,  of  Mr. 
Wilson.  Perhaps  no  political  movement  had  ever  so 
aroused  the  people  of  Massachusetts,  or  had  been  so  sig 
nificant  of  her  advance  in  liberal  ideas.  Hard  and  insult 
ing  names  were  freely  bestowed  upon  the  leader ;  but  he 
had  no  time  nor  wish  to  strike  "  back-blows." 

The  agency  which  he  had  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Sum- 
ner  to  the  Senate  is  recognized  in  the  following  frank 
avowal :  — 

CRAGIE  HOUSE,  CAMBRIDGE,  April  25,  1851. 

MY  DEAR  WILSON,  —  I  have  this  moment  read  your  re 
marks  of  last  night,  which  I  think  peculiarly  happy.  You 
touched  the  right  chord.  I  hope  not  to  seem  cold  or 
churlish  in  thus  withdrawing  from  all  the  public  manifesta 
tions  of  triumph  to  which  our  friends  are  prompted.  In 
doing  so,  I  follow  the  line  of  reserve  which  you  know  I 
have  kept  to  throughout  the  contest ;  and  my  best  judg 
ment  at  this  moment  satisfies  me  that  I  am  right. 

You  who  have  seen  me  familiarly  and  daily  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end  will  understand  me,  and,  if  need  be, 
can  satisfy  those,  who,  taking  counsel  of  their  exultation, 
would  have  me  mingle  in  the  display.  But  I  shrink  from 
imposing  any  thing  more  upon  you. 

To  your  ability,  energy,  determination,  and  fidelity 
our  cause  owes  its  present  success.  For  weal  or  woe,  you 


94  LIFE  OP   HENKY  WILSON. 

must  take   the  responsibility  of  having  placed  me  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States. 

I  am  prompted  also  to  add,  that,  while  you  have  done  al 
this,  I  have  never  heard  from  you  a  single  suggestion  of  a 
selfish  character,  looking  in  any  way  to  any  good  to  your 
self:  your  labors  have  been  as  disinterested  as  they  have 
been  effective.  This  consideration  increases  my  personal 
esteem  and  gratitude.  I  trust  that  you  will  see  that  Mr. 
B.'s  resolves  are  passed  at  once  as  they  are,  and  the  bill  as 
soon  as  possible.  Delay  will  be  the  tactics  of  the  enemy. 
Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

The  Hon.  HENRY  WILSON. 

This  coalition  sent  Mr.  Wilson  to  the  State  Senate  for 
the  session  of  1851  by  a  majority  of  twenty-one  hundred 
votes  ;  and  he  was  then  made  president  of  that  body.  On 
taking  the  chair  the  first  day  of  January,  he  made  the 
following  appropriate  address  :  "  Senators,  I  tender  to 
you  my  sincere  and  grateful  thanks  for  this  expression  of 
your  confidence.  In  return,  I  promise  to  bring  to  the 
chair  an  earnest  determination  to  perform  its  duties  with 
fidelity  and  impartiality.  Conscious  of  a  want  of  experi 
ence,  I  solicit  your  indulgence.  I  feel  that  I  occupy  this 
place  under  the  disadvantage  of  having  been  preceded  by 
some  of  the  most  eminent  men  who  have  illustrated  the 
legislative  history  of  the  Commonwealth.  Relying,  how 
ever,  on  your  friendly  co-operation,  I  enter  upon  the  per 
formance  of  the  task  to  which  your  partiality  has  called 
me.  My  hope  is,  that  we  shall  so  conduct  our  delibera 
tions  as  not  only  to  secure  harmony  among  ourselves,  but 
also  to  susfain  those  great  principles  which  are  conducive 
to  the  glory  and  the  prosperity  of  the  Commonwealth. 


COURSE   IN  THE  STATE  LEGISLATURE.  95 

Having  done  this,  we  shall  give  back  to  the  people  the 
power  they  delegated  to  us,  with  the  proud  consciousness 
of  having  done  something  to  advance  the  ideas  of  freedom 
and  progress,  —  something  to  promote  the  renown  of  the 
republic,  and  to  cement  that  union  which  makes  us  one 
people." 

Eighteen  years  before,  he  was  a  friendless  youth,  home 
less  and  penniless,  seeking  the  privilege  to  toil  for  his 
daily  bread  ;  but  through  untiring  industry,  undeviating 
steadiness  to  principle,  through  an  unshaken  confidence  in 
human  progress,  and  self-denying  sacrifice  for  the  relief  of 
the  oppressed,  he  raised  himself,  against  persistent  op 
position,  to  this  honorable  post.  It  is  the  fortune  of 
but  few  men  to  make  such  advancement  in  so  brief  a 
period ;  yet  his  success,  so  nobly  merited  and  won,  may 
serve  as  an  encouragement  to  those,  who,  under  adverse 
circumstances,  are  aspiring  PER  VIRTUTEM  AD  GLORIAM. 

On  the  21st  of  January,  1851,  the  anniversary  of  the 
twentieth  year  of  the  existence  of  "  The  Liberator  "  was 
held  in  Cochituate  Hall  ;  when  Mr.  Wilson  thus  again 
expressed  his  views  and  hopes  upon  "  the  irrepressible 
conflict : "  — 

44  Sir,  allusion  has  been  made  to-niojit  to  the  small  be- 

/  O 

ginning  of  the  great  antislavery  movement  twenty  years 
ago,  when  4  The  Liberator'  was  launched  upon  the  tide. 
These  years  have  been  years  of  devotion  and  of  struggles 
unsurpassed  in  any  age  or  in  any  cause.  But,  not 
withstanding  the  treachery  of  public  men,  I  venture  to 
say  that  the  cause  of  liberty  is  spreading  throughout  the 
whole  land,  and  that  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when 
brilliant  victories  for  freedom  will  be  won.  We  shall  arrest 
the  extension  of  slavery,  and  rescue  the  government  from 
the  grasp  of  the  slave-power ;  we  shall  blot  out  slavery 


96  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

in  the  national  capital ;  we  shall  surround  the  slave  States 
with  a  cordon  of  free  States ;  we  shall  then  appeal  to  the 
hearts  and  consciences  of  men  ;  and  in  a  few  years,  not 
withstanding  the  immense  interests  combined  in  the  cause 
of  oppression,  we  shall  give  liberty  to  the  millions  in  bond 
age.  (Hear,  hear.)  I  trust  that  many  of  us  will  live  to 
see  the  chain  stricken  from  the  limbs  of  the  last  bondman 
in  the  republic  ;  but,  sir,  whenever  that  day  shall  come, 
living  or  dead,  no  name  connected  with  the  antislavery 
movement  will  be  dearer  to  the  enfranchised  millions  than 
the  name  of  your  guest,  William  Lloyd  Garrison."  (Pro 
longed  applause.) 

During  this  session  of  the  Senate,  Mr.  Wilson  took  a 
leading  part  in  obtaining  an  act  for  a  third  convention 
for  revising  the  Constitution  of  the  State  ;  in  carrying 
the  Homestead  Exemption  Bill,  which  reserved  to  the 
family  of  the  insolvent  debtor  five  hundred  dollars  from 
the  hands  of  creditors ;  in  the  fiercely-contested  election 
of  Mr.  Sumner,  carried  in  April  over  Mr.  Winthrop ;  and 
in  securing  the  act  for  the  re-organization  of  the  board  of 
overseers  of  Harvard  University,  by  which  they  were  to  be 
chosen  by  joint  ballot  of  both  branches  of  the  legislature, 
so  that  all  sects  and  parties  might  be  represented  by  their 
most  competent  men. 

On  the  15th  of  May  he  vigorously  defended  the  princi 
ples  of  the  Free-soil  party,  claiming  it  to  be  a  Union  con 
stitutional  organization,  and  in  forcible  terms  rebuked  the 
course  of  Mr.  Webster. 

At  the  close  of  the  session  (May  23,  1851),  it  was  or 
dered  that  the  "  thanks  of  the  Senate  be  presented  to  the 
Hon.  Henry  Wilson  for  the  able,  impartial,  and  satisfactory 
manner  in  which  he  has  discharged  the  duties  of  the 
chair." 


COURSE   IN    THE   STATE    LEGISLATURE.  97 

In  reply,  he  said,  — 

u  Senators,  this  expression  of  your  approbation  excites 
in  my  bosom  the  liveliest  emotions  of  gratitude.  The 
uniform  courtesy  and  kindness  you  have  all,  individually 
and  collectively,  extended  to  me  through  this  protracted 
session,  and  the  kind  words  now  spoken,  give  me  the  most 
ample  assurance  that  this  vote  is  no  formal  or  unmeaning 
compliment.  Be  assured,  gentlemen,  be  assured,  I  shall 
ever  fondly  cherish  the  recollections  of  your  many  acts  of 
kindness,  until  the  heart  upon  which  they  are  indelibly 
engraved  ceases  to  beat  forever.'' 

"  Knowledge  of  human  nature,"  said  one  of  the  daily 
journals  of  this  season,  and  the  art  of  winning  the  con 
fidence  of  men,  are  among  the  chief  elements  of  political 
efficiency;  and,  in  addition  to  these,  Gen.  Wilson  possesses 
a  more  powerful  element  of  success  in  the  whole-souled 
devotion  with  which  he  supports  the  cause  of  freedom." 

He  was  this  year  chosen  vice-president  of  the  Legisla 
tive  Temperance  Society,  and  industriously  availed  himself 
of  every  occasion  to  promote  the  temperance  cause. 

Appointed  delegate  to  the  National  Convention  of  the 
Free-soil  party,  held  at  Pittsburg,  Penn.,  in  1852,  he  was 
elevated  to  the  chair  of  that  body,  when  he  made  an 
eloquent  address :  he  was  also  made  chairman  of  the 
National  Free-soil  Committee,  in  which  capacity  he 
served  with  fidelity  and  acceptance.  During  this  year 
he  was  supported  by  the  Free-soil  men  of  the  Eighth  Dis 
trict  for  a  seat  in  Congress,  but  failed  of  an  election  by  less 
than  a  hundred  votes,  although  there  was  a  heavy  majority 
against  his  party  in  that  district.  He  was  also  urged  by 
his  political  associates  and  by  many  Democrats  to  become 
candidate  for  the  gubernatorial  chair ;  but,  in  a  public 
letter,  he  peremptorily  declined  a  nomination. 


98  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

Again  he  was  a  member  (1852),  and  was  again  elected 
president  of  the  Massachusetts  Senate  by  sixteen  out  of 
twenty-seven  votes.  During  the  session,  he  assisted  vigor 
ously  in  obtaining  the  act  for  a  constitutional  convention, 
and  for  a  law  prohibiting  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors ; 
on  behalf  of  which  he  made  a  strong  speech  in  February, 
wherein  he  said,  "  Heretofore  we  have  tried  to  regulate 
the  sale  of  ardent  spirits.  This  bill  will  stop  it." 

He  was  appointed  chairman  of  the  legislative  com 
mittee  to  welcome  President  Fillmore  to  Massachusetts, 
and  also  to  extend  a  reception  to  Gov.  Louis  Kossuth, 
the  distinguished  Hungarian  exile  to  our  State.  In 
company  with  twenty-one  senators,  he  met  this  noble 
advocate  of  freedom  and  humanity  on  his  arrival  at 
Springfield,  April  26,  1852,'  and,  in  the  presence  of  a  vast 
multitude  of  people  who  had  gathered  to  greet  the  heroic 
opponent  of  Austrian  despotism,  gave  him  a  cordial  wel 
come  to  the  hospitalities  of  Massachusetts  in  the  following 
eloquent  and  appropriate  words  :  — 

"  Gov.  Kossuth,  in  the  name  and  in  behalf  of  the 
government,  I  bid  you  welcome  to  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  to  the  hospitalities  of  the  authorities,  and 
the  sincere  and  enthusiastic  greetings  of  the  people.  I 
welcome  you,  sir,  to  a  Commonwealth  which  recognizes 
the  unity  of  mankind,  the  brotherhood  of  men  and  of 
nations, — a  Commonwealth  where  the  equality  of  all  men 
before  the  law  is  fully  established  ;  where  *  personal  free 
dom  is  secured  in  its  completest  individuality,  and  common 
consent  recognized  as  the  only  just  origin  of  fundamental 
laws.' 

"  Welcome,  sir,  to  the  soil  consecrated  to  the  tears  and 
prayers  of  the  Pilgrim  exiles,  and  by  the  first  blood  of  the 
Revolution.  Welcome  to  the  halls  of  council,  where  Otis 


ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME  TO   GOV.   KOSSUTH.          99 

and  Hancock  and  the  Adamses  breathed  into  the  nation 
the  breath  of  life  ;  to  the  field  of  battle,  where  Warren  and 
his  comrades  fell  fighting  for  freedom  and  the  rights  of 
man,  and  where  the  peerless  chieftain  to  whose  tomb  you 
have  just  made  a  pilgrimage  first  marshalled  the  armies  of 
the  republic.  Welcome  to  the  native  State  of  Franklin, 
who  pleaded  the  cause  of  his  country  to  willing  and  unwilling 
ears  in  the  Old  World  as  you  are  pleading  the  cause  of  your 
country  in  the  New  World.  Welcome  to  the  acquaintance 
of  a  people  who  cherish  your  cause  in  their  hearts,  and 
who  pronounce  your  name  with  affection  and  admiration. 
Welcome  to  their  free  institutions,  —  institutions  of  religion 
and  of  learning  and  of  charity,  reared  by  the  free  choice 
of  the  people  for  the  culture  of  all  and  the  relief  of  all,  — 
institutions  which  are  the  fruits  of  freedom  such  as  you 
strove  to  give  to  your  fatherland,  for  which  crime  you  are 
this  day  a  homeless  and  persecuted  exile. 

"  To-day  you  are  the  guest  of  Massachusetts.  Sir,  the 
people  of  Massachusetts  are  not  man-worshippers.  They 
will  pay  you  no  unmeaning  compliments,  no  empty  honors. 
But  they  know  your  history  by  heart.  Your  early  conse 
cration  to  freedom ;  your  years  of  persecution  and  im 
prisonment  ;  your  sublime  devotion  to  the  nationality  and 
elevation  of  your  country ;  the  matchless  eloquence  and 
untiring  industry  with  which  at  home  you  combated  the 
Austrian  despotism,  with  which  in  exile  you  have  pleaded 
the  cause  of  Hungarian  liberty,  the  cause  of  universal  dem 
ocratic  freedom  and  of  national  right ;  the  lofty  steadiness 
of  your  purpose,  and  the  stainless  purity  of  your  life,  — 
these  have  won  their  sympathy,  and  command  their  pro- 
foundest  admiration.  Descendants  of  Pilgrim  exiles,  we 
greet  you  warmly.  Sons  of  Revolutionary  patriots,  we  hail 
you  as  the  exiled  leader  of  a  noble  struggle  for  ancient 


100  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

rights  and  national  independence.  We  receive  yon  as  the 
representative  of  Hungary,  as  the  champion  of  republican 
ism  in  Europe.  We  welcome  you  as  we  would  welcome 
your  gallant  people  into  the  sisterhood  of  republics,  into 
the  family  of  nations. 

44  The  people  of  this  Commonwealth,  sir,  watched  the 
noble  struggle  of  your  nation  with  admiration  and  with 
hope.  They  felt  that  the  armies  which  you  organized  and 
sent  into  the  field  were  fighting  the  battles,  not  of  Hungary 
alone,  but  of  the  world,  because  they  were  fought  for 
freedom  and  for  progress.  Your  victories  were  our  vic 
tories  ;  and  when,  by  the  treachery  of  Gorgey,  Hungary 
fell  before  the  armed  intervention  of  Russia,  they  felt,  and 
still  feel,  that  the  czar  had  not  only  violated  the  rights  of 
Hungary,  but  had  outraged  the  law  of  nations  and  the 
sentiment  of  the  civilized  world.  On  this  subject  the  mes 
sage  of  his  Excellency  the  governor,  and  the  resolutions 
pending  before  the  legislature,  utter  the  sentiments  of  the 
people  of  Massachusetts. 

"  The  wave  of  re-action  has  swept  over  Europe.  The 
high  hopes  excited  by  the  revolutions  of  1848  are  buried  in 
the  graves  and  in  the  dungeons  of  the  martyrs  of  freedom  ; 
are  quenched  in  the  blood  of  the  subjugated  people.  The 
iron  heel  of  absolutism  presses  the  beating  hearts  of  the 
nations.  The  voice  of  freedom  is  heard  only  in  the  threat 
ening  murmurs  of  the  down-trodden  masses,  or  in  the  sad 
accents  of  their  exiled  leaders.  But  all  is  not  lost.  God 
lives  and  reigns.  The  purest,  the  noblest,  the  most  power 
ful  impulses  of  the  great  heart  of  humanity  are  for  right 
and  liberty.  Glorious  actions  and  noble  aims  are  nevef 
wholly  lost.  The 

1  Seed  of  generous  sacrifice, 
Though  seeming  on  the  desert  cast, 
Shall  rise  with  flower  and  fruit  at  last.' 


ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME  TO  S&V.  K08SUTE.1'     101 

"  When  you  quit  the  shores  of  the  republic  you  will 
carry  with  you  the  prayers  of  Massachusetts  that  the  days 
of  your  exile  may  be  few,  and  the  subjugation  of  your 
people  brief;  that  your  country  may  speedily  assume  her 
proper  high  position  among  the  nations  ;  and  that  you  may 
give  to  her  counsels  in  the  future,  as  you  have  given  in  the 
past,  the  weight  of  your  character  and  the  power  of  your 
intellect  to  guide  her  onward  in  the  career  of  progress  and 
of  democratic  freedom. 

"  Again,  sir,  in  the  name  of  the  government  and  people 
of  Massachusetts,  I  welcome  you  to  our  hearts  and  to  our 
homes.  I  welcome  you  to  such  a  reception  as  it  becomes 
a  free  and  democratic  people  to  give  to  the  most  illustrious 
living  leader  and  champion  of  freedom  and  democracy."  * 

Mr.  Wilson  afterwards  in  an  appropriate  manner  wel 
comed  the  illustrious  exile  to  the  Senate,  and  was  highly 
gratified  with  the  brief  interviews  which  he  held  with 
him  ;  for  their  opinions  on  the  great  questions  of  civil  lib 
erty  were  in  harmony,  and  their  experience  in  endeavoring 
to  maintain  it  brought  them  into  immediate  personal 
sympathy.  Mr.  Wilson  presided  over  the  deliberations  of 
the  Senate  with  dignity,  impartiality,  and  acceptance.  But 
once  only  was  a  question  raised  on  his  decision  during  the 
time  he  occupied  the  chair,  and  then  but  five  voted  against 
him.  At  the  close  of  his  State  senatorial  career  in  the 
spring  of  1852,  he  took  leave  of  his  associates  in  an  appro- 


*  In  a  letter  of  Mr.  Sumner  to  Mr.  Wilson,  dated  Senate-chamber,  April  29, 
1852,  he  says,  "  Seward  has  just  come  to  my  desk ;  and  his  first  words  were, '  What 
a  magnificent  speech  Wilson  made  to  Kossuth  1  I  have  read  nothing  for  months 
which  took  such  hold  of  me.'  I  cannot  resist  telling  you  of  this,  and  adding  the 
expression  of  my  sincere  delight  in  what  you  said.  It  was  eloquent,  wise,  and 
apt.  I  am  glad  ot  this  grand  reception.  Massachusetts  does  honor  to  herself  in 
thus  honoring  a  representative  of  freedom.'* 
9* 


'LIFE'  O^  HENKY   WILSON. 


priate  address  ;  and  a  gold  watch  was  presented  to  him  by 
his  friends  in  token  of  his  faithfulness  and  courtesy  as  vhe 
presiding  officer. 

It  bears  this  inscription  :  — 

"  HON.  HENRY  WILSON,  FROM  MEMBERS  OF  THE  MASSACHUSETTS 
SENATE,  1852." 

During  the  sessions  of  the  legislature  in  1850-1-2,  he 
was  absent  from  his  seat  but  one  day,  and  that  was  to  at 
tend  the  funeral  of  a  friend.  As  was  said  of  Mr.  Adams, 
one  might  as  soon  expect  to  see  a  pillar  of  the  Capitol  ab 
sent  from  its  place  as  Mr.  Wilson  from  his  seat. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

MR.  WILSON     AT    HOME.  —  THE    STATE    CONSTITUTIONAL 

CONVENTION.  HIS    PART   IN  IT. SPEECHES. 

RESULT    OF    THE    CONVENTION. 


A  Friend  of  his  Pastor.  —  Hard  Study.  —  Temperance.  —  Books  and  Authors.  — 
The  Source  of  Civil  Liberty.  —  No  "Back-Blows."  —  Cheerful  Spirit. — 
Home.  —  Gift  to  his  Minister.  —  Revision  of  the  State  Constitution.  —  Elected 
by  Natick  and  Berlin. —  Punctuality.  —  His  Course.  —  How  he  looked  at  a 
Legal  Question.  —  Chairman  pro  tern.  —  Speech  in  Favor  of  Colored  Troops. 
—  On  the  Death  of  Mr.  Gourgas  of  Concord.  —  On  the  Course  of  Harvard 
College  in  Respect  to  Prof.  Bowen.  —  Address  to  his  Constituents.  —  Reason 
for  Defeat  of  the  Amendments.  —  Cost  and  Influence  of  the  Convention. 


IN  May,  1852,  the  Rev.  Ellas  Nason  was  settled  as  pas 
tor  of  the  Congregational  church  at  Natick,  where  he 
continued  until  the  autumn  of  1858.  During  his  pastorate 
at  Natick  he  found  in  Mr.  Wilson  a  firm  and  cordial  friend, 
ever  prompt  and  liberal  in  the  support  of  the  institutions 
of  religion  and  of  benevolence,  and  ever  aiding  with  heart 
and  hand  in  the  promotion  of  the  welfare  of  the  community. 
On  the  sabbath  he  was  usually  in  his  seat  in  church,  and 
an  attentive  listener.  He  was  always  frank  and  open  in 
the  expression  of  his  opinions  upon  every  subject,  whether 
political,  social,  or  religious ;  and  he  loved  to  have  other 
people  speak  with  the  same  freedom.  Plain  and  unaffected 
in  his  manner  and  his  dress,  he  associated  freely  with  the 
working-people  ;  and  the  very  humblest  found  a.  welcome 

103 


104  LIFE  OF   HENEY  WILSON. 

at  his  open  door.     In  the  social  circle  the  sight  of  his  fresh 
and  smiling  countenance  was  indeed  a  benediction. 

o 

He  pursued  his  studies  with  untiring  energy,  sometimes 
reading  or  writing  —  as  he  had  once  labored  in  the  shop  — 
fifteen  or  sixteen  hours  in  succession.  When  he  com 
menced  upon  a  theme,  he  loved  to  finish  his  investigations 
ere  he  left  it ;  and  this  often  carried  his  labors  far  into  the 
night:  yet  still  he  came  forth  as  bright  the  following 
day  as  if  he  had  spent  the  night  in  repose.  His 
physical  as  well  as  mental  system  always  seemed  to  be  in 
splendid  working-order.  By  looking  at  his  clear  com 
plexion  and  his  vigorous  frame,  one  had  an  argument  for 
temperance  more  eloquent  than  any  orator  could  present. 
In  his  reading  he  was  rapid  and  select.  He  chose  the  best, 
—  of  foreign  writers,  Macaulay,  Hallam,  Carlyle,  De 
Tocqueville ;  of  American,  Sparks,  Bancroft,  Prescott, 
Everett.  History  was  his  favorite  reading ;  yet  now  and 
then  he  spent  an  hour  with  Emerson's  "  Essays,"  Haw 
thorne's  "  Scarlet  Letter,"  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  "  Jane 
Eyre,"  and  "  David  Copperfield." 

In  his  interviews  with  his  pastor  he  often  expressed  his 
profound  sympathy  for  the  slave  and  for  the  working-peo 
ple,  and  said  that  his  brightest  hope  was  that  he  might  do 
something  in  his  life  towards  breaking  the  fetters  of  the 
bondman.  Constitutional  and  civil  liberty,  he  frequently 
asserted,  came  from  the  principles  of  the  New  Testament : 
by  those  principles  every  human  being  ought  to  be  a  free 
man,  and  on  those  principles  aggression  against  the  slave- 
holding  system  must  be  made.  His  forecast  as  to  the  turn 
of  the  impending  contest  seems  surprising ;  and,  on  being 
asked  in  1867  how  he  came  to  be  so  "  good  for  guessing," 
he  replied,  "  By  looking,  not  at  one  point  only,  but  ovei 
the  whole  field  of  action." 


STATE  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION.  105 

Though  not  then  a  communicant  of  the  church,  lie  held 
the  church  in  high  regard  ;  complaining  only  now  and 
then  that  the  clergy  moved  too  tardily  in  matters  of  re 
form. 

u  Men  misunderstand  my  motives,  and  malign  my  char 
acter,"  he  often  said  ;  "  but  I  have  no  time  nor  wish  to  strike 
back-blows.  I  desire  to  advance  upon  the  line  of  right 
and  duty,  and  to  make  every  one  as  happy  as  I  can  along 
the  way." 

This  course  of  action  gave  him  a  cheerful  spirit,  and 
made  others  cheerful  in  his  presence.  His  home,  enlivened 
by  the  smile  of  an  amiable  wife  and  sprightly  boy,  was 
happy ;  and  surrounded  by  affectionate  friends  and  neigh 
bors,  who  well  knew  his  worth,  and  were  proud  of  his  ad 
vancement,  he  was  considered  as  one  of  the  most  useful 
and  most  enviable  men  in  that  community. 

When  his  pastor  left  Natick,  Mr.  Wilson,  with  a  tear 
in  his  eye,  came  up  to  him,  and  said,  "  I  am  a  poor  man ; 
but  take  this  in  remembrance,  and  I  wish  it  were  a  hun 
dred  times  as  much." 

On  the  fourth  day  of  May,  1853,  the  convention  for 
the  revision  and  amendment  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
State  assembled  in  the  State  House,  Boston.  This  in 
strument,  framed  in  1780,  was  revised  in  1820 ;  and 
through  successive  changes  in  legislation,  and  the  progress 
of  liberal  ideas  among  the  people,  evidently  needed  re- 
examination,  and,  in  respect  to  some  of  its  articles,  improve 
ment.  The  act  of  the  legislature  for  holding  this  con 
vention  was  obtained  by  a  hard  struggle  on  the  part  of 
the  progressive  members ;  and,  to  form  it,  some  of  the 
ablest  legislators  in  the  State  —  as  Rufus  Choate,  George 
S.  Boutwell,  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  George  S.  Hillard,  N.  P. 
Banks,  and  Benjamin  F.  Hallett  —  were  electqd.  Mr, 


106  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

Wilson  was  chosen  by  the  town  of  Natick,  and  also  by  the 
town  of  Berlin.  "  On  Monday  last,"  he  pleasantly  said 
in  the  convention,  "  I  visited  the  people  of  that  town  foi 
the  first  time  in  my  life  (perhaps,  if  they  had  known  me 
better,  they  would  not  have  elected  me)  ;  and  I  told  the 
people  that  I  would  serve  them  to  the  best  of  my  ability, 
if  they  desired  it ;  but,  under  the  circumstances,  I  should 
be  under  great  obligations  to  them  if  they  would  allow 
me  to  resign  as  delegate  from  their  town :  and  I  obtained 
their  unanimous  vote  to  that  effect. "  He  was  appointed 
chairman  of  the  committee  for  the  best  mode  of  proceed 
ing  in  the  business  of  the  convention,  and  also  chairman 
of  the  committee  on  that  part  of  the  Constitution  relating 
to  the  Senate.  He  set  himself  at  work  in  this  body  with 
his  usual  zeal  and  industry :  he  took  a  leading  part  in  its 
debates,  and  made  many  able  and  effective  speeches. 
During  the  whole  session,  running  through  ninety  days, 
he  was  not  absent  from  his  seat  more  than  thirty  minutes; 
and  every  paper,  every  motion,  every  speech,  received  the 
attention  of  his  observant  eye  or  ear.  True  to  the  sen 
timents  he  had  so  frequently  expressed,  his  voice  was 
always  heard  in  the  defence  of  equal  rights,  of  the  cause 
of  human  freedom,  and  of  the  working-people.  He  met 
the  conservative  element  in  the  convention  courteously, 
but  fearlessly ;  and  by  standing  firmly  to  his  point,  and 
supporting  himself  by  quick  appeals  to  the  principles  of 
equity,  to  present  need  or  past  experience,  he  often  gained 
the  victory. 

On  being  asked  one  day  why  he  ventured,  ignorant  as 
he  was  of  law,  to  meet  on  certain  legal  questions  gentle 
men  eminent  for  their  knowledge  of  the  law,  his  charac 
teristic  answer  was,  "  Such  men  mystify  things  by  their 
abstractions  and  their  technicalities ;  whereas  by  using 


STATE  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION.  107 

common  sense,  and   looking  at  things  fairly,  fearlessly  in 
the  face,  we  generally  come  out  right." 

During  the  illness  of  Mr.  Banks,  the  speaker  of  the 
convention,  he  was  appointed  to  the  chair,  and  presided 
ably  over  the  deliberations.  Among  his  speeches  in  this 
body,  that  in  favor  of  election  by  the  majority  instead  of 
the  plurality  vote,  that  against  an  elective  judiciary,  that 
against  the  limitation  of  the  State  credit,  as  also  that  in 
opposition  to  the  tax  qualification  of  the  voter,  may  be 
cited  as  evincing  marked  ability.  In  regard  to  the  admis 
sion  of  colored  persons  into  the  military  service  of  the 
State,  he  nobly  said,  "  The  first  victim  of  the  Boston 
massacre,  on  the  5th  of  March,  1770,  which  made  the 
fires  of  resistance  burn  more  intensely,  was  a  colored  man. 
Hundreds  of  colored  men  entered  the  ranks,  and  fought 
bravely  on  all  the  fields  of  the  Revolution.  Gray  don  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  his  Memoirs,  informs  us  that  many  of  the 
Southern  officers  disliked  the  New-England  regiments 
because  so  many  colored  men  were  in  their  ranks.  At 
Red  Bank  they  received  the  commendation  of  their  com 
mander  for  their  gallant  conduct.  A  colored  battalion  was 
organized  for  the  defence  of  New  Orleans,  and  Gen.  Jack 
son  publicly "  thanked  them  for  their  courage  and  con 
duct.  When  the  country  has  required  their  blood  in  days 
of  trial  and  conflict,  they  have  given  it  freely,  and  we  have 
accepted  it ;  but  in  times  of  peace,  when  their  blood  is  not 
needed,  we  spurn  and  trample  them  under  foot.  I  have 
no  part  in  this  great  wrong  to  a  race.  Whenever  and 
wherever  we  have  the  power  to  do  it,  I  would  give  to  all 
men  of  every  clime  and  race,  of  every  faith  and  creed, 
freedom  and  equality  before  the  law.  My  voice  and  my 
vote  shall  ever  be  given  for  the  equality  of  all  the  children 
of  men  before  the  laws  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massa 
chusetts  and  the  United  States." 


108  LIFE   OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

His  remarks  on  the  death  of  his  friend  Francis  R.  Gour- 
gas,  which  occurred  on  the  twelfth  clay  of  July,  are  beau 
tiful  as  they  are  just :  "  The  death  of  a  member  of  this  con 
vention,"  said  he,  4;  could  not  but  be  received  with  mournful 
sadness  by  us  all.  But,  sir,  he  who  has  fallen  was  a  friend 
of  many  years.  In  1842,  eleven  years  ago,  it  was  my 
privilege  to  meet  him  upon  the  floor  of  this  House.  Then 
I  formed  a  personal  acquaintance  with  him,  —  an  acquaint 
ance  which  ripened  into  a  personal  friendship  which  has 
been  continued  from  that  day  to  this.  I  have  ever  found 

him  a  man 

'  Of  soul  sincere, 
In  action  faithful,  and  in  honor  clear.' 

"  During  the  last  five  years,  it  has  been  my  peculiar  for 
tune  to  meet  him  on  many  occasions  connected  with  public 
affairs  ;  and,  sir,  I  can  truly  say,  that,  among  all  my  ac 
quaintances  and  friends,  I  know  of  no  one  among  the  liv 
ing  who  excelled  him  in  ripe  and  sound  judgment,  in 
discretion  and  prudence.  He  was  a  man  of  inflexible 
purpose,  of  integrity  undoubted.  He  entertained  his  own 
opinions  with  the  tenacity  of  sincere  conviction  ;  and  at  the 
same  time,  in  carrying  out  those  opinions,  he  always 
exercised  the  greatest  prudence,  discretion,  and  wisdom. 
It  was  his  fortune,  years  ago,  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of 
editor  of  a  leading  political  journal  in  the  town  of  Con 
cord.  In  the  severe  political  conflicts  of  those  times,  he 
doubtless  had  many  strong  opponents ;  but  in  his  own' 
town  of  Concord  he  enjoyed  the  confidence,  the  respect, 
and  the  affection  of  men  of  all  parties.  His  townsmen 
and  neighbors  loved  and  honored  him ;  for  they  knew  his 
worth. 

u  Having  a  family  of  three  children,  an  accomplished, 
intelligent,  and  faithful  wife,  he  has,  during  the  past  few 


SPEECHES.  109 

years,  devoted  himself,  when  not  engaged  in  the  duties  of 
public  life,  to  the  welfare  of  his  family,  and  to  the  cultiva- 
tion  of  his  beautiful  garden.  His  library,  for  which  he  had 
recently  fitted  up  an  appropriate  room,  reflected  the  refine 
ment  of  his  taste  and  the  cultivation  of  his  mind.  He 
was  surrounded  by  every  thing  to  make  life  agreeable  and 
desirable.  But,  sir,  he  has  fallen,  — fallen  in  the  vigor  and 
maturity  of  his  manhood,  —  mourned  by  all  his  neighbors, 
and  deeply  regretted  by  all  his  associates  and  friends  in 
political  life.  In  him  I  have  lost  an  associate  and  friend 
whose  name  and  memory  I  shall  ever  cherish  with  affec 
tion  until  my  heart  shall  cease  to  beat. 

"  A  comrade  has  fallen.  We  may  pause  for  a  moment, 
and  drop  a  tear  of  affection  to  his  memory  ;  but  duty  com 
pels  us  to  close  up  the  ranks,  and  hurry  on  in  the  perform 
ance  of  life's  labors." 

His  speech  on  the  course  pursued  by  the  friends  of 
Harvard  College  in  respect  to  Prof.  Francis  Bowen, 
who  had  been  set  aside  from  his  professorship,  as  Mr. 
Wilson  stated,  for  "  misquoting,  misstating,  and  garbling 
historical  authorities,"  is  marked  with  manly  force. 

u  I  do  not,  sir,  mean  to  charge  it "  [the  restoration  of 
Mr.  Bowen],  "directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  corporators 
of  that  institution.  I  charge  it  upon  a  certain  class  of  indi 
viduals,  who  seem  to  think  that  they  own  the  institution, 
president,  corporators,  overseers,  and  all,  —  a  class  of  indi 
viduals  who  assume  it  to  be  their  mission  to  keep  Harvard 
College  from  the  influences  of  the  outside  barbarians.  I 
would  not,  if  I  could,  take  Harvard  College  from  one  sect 
of  religionists,  and  place  it  under  the  control  of  another 
sect.  I  would  not  take  it  from  the  control  of  one  political 
party,  and  place  it  under  the  control  of  another  political 
party.  I  would  introduce  into  its  government  men  of  all 
10 


110  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

religious  sects  and  of  all  political  parties  ;  men  of  genius 
and  knowledge;  men  devoted  to  the  cause  of  sound  learn 
ing  and  literature  ;  men  of  liberal  ideas ;  men  who  would 
bring  that  institution,  founded  by  our  fathers  in  their  days 
of  weakness,  abreast  of  the  progressive  march  of  the  age, 
and  within  the  circle  of  popular  sympathy. 

"  Mr.  President,  in  1850,  Francis  Bowen,  editor  of 
4  The  North- American  Review,'  was  nominated  professor 
of  history  by  the  corporators  of  Harvard  College.  On  the 
sixth  day  of  February,  1851,  his  nomination  came  up  for 
confirmation  before  the  board  of  overseers  in  the  Senate- 
chamber.  A  majority  of  the  board  of  overseers  of  that 
year  believed  that  he  entertained  sentiments  and  opinions 
which  unfitted  him  to  be  a  teacher  of  history  in  that  uni 
versity,  or  anywhere  else  in  America  ;  and  he  was  reject 
ed,  ignominiously  rejected, —  rejected  for  sentiments  and 
opinions  that  disqualified  him  to  be  the  teacher  of  American 
youth ;  and  rejected,  also,  for  the  historical  ignorance  he 
had  shown  ;  for  the  perversions,  misquotations,  and  blunders 
he  had  made  in  defending,  his  obnoxious  sentiments  and 
opinions. 

"  Sir,  I  ask  the  gentleman  from  Boston  (Mr.  Lothrop) 
if  the  nomination  of  Francis  Bowen  to  the  professorship 
of  history  by  the  corporation  of  Harvard  College,  in  1850, 
was  an  evidence  of  the  desire  of  the  men  who  control  that 
institution  to  keep  it  along  with  the  wants  of  the  people 
and  the  spirit  of  the  age.  Are  such  sentiments  and  opin 
ions  as  Bowen  has  expressed  for  years  through  4  The  North- 
American  Review  '  such  sentiments  and  opinions  as  fit  him 
to  teach  the  young  men  of  Massachusetts  and  of  the 
country?  Are  such  historical  mistakes,  blunders,  and 
perversions,  as  he  has  exhibited  in  his  Hungarian  con 
troversy,  evidences  of  qualifications  to  teach  the  young 


SPEECHES.  Ill 

men  of  Harvard  ?  Is  such  dishonesty  as  he  has  shown  in 
garbling  historical  authorities  an  evidence  of  fitness  for 
the  chair  t>f  the  professorship  of  history  in  the  oldest 
university  of  the  country  ?  Is  such  a  temper  as  he  has 
manifested  in  the  controversies  growing  out  of  his  historical 
discussions  an  evidence  of  his  fitness,  of  his  impartiality  ? 
His  sentiments,  opinions,  historical  ignorance,  mistakes, 
perversions,  blunders,  plagiarisms,  and  garbling  of  authori 
ties,  were  not  unknown  to  the  corporators  when  his  name, 
in  January,  1851,  was  submitted  to  the  board  of  overseers. 
When,  on  the  6th  of  February,  his  nomination  came  up 
for  confirmation,  they  were  there,  not  to  withdraw  the 
nomination  in  obedience  to  the  almost  united  voice  of  the 
American  press  and  the  American  people,  who  loathed  and 
abhorred  his  sentiments ;  but  they,  and  the  peculiar 
friends  of  the  college,  were  there  to  sustain  the  man  whom 
the  voice  of  the  people  had  pronounced  unfit  to  be  the 
teacher  of  American  youth.  And,  sir,  when  the  majority 
of  the  board  of  overseers  had  rejected  their  nomination, 
that  board  of  corporators,  sustained  by  the  self-constituted 
friends  of  the  college,  seized  the  first  accidental  opportunity 
which  turned  up  to  place  that  man  in  the  chair  of  the  pro 
fessorship  of  moral  philosophy. 

"  These  men  knew  Bowen's  sentiments ;  they  knew  he 
had  been  proved  ignorant  of  the  subjects  he  professed  to 
understand  ;  they  knew  he  had  been  convicted  of  dishon 
esty  in  garbling,  perverting,  and  misquoting  historical 
authorities  ;  they  knew  that  the  public,  with  a  voice 
approaching  unanimity,  demanded  his  rejection:  yet  thev 
pressed  his  nomination  ;  and,  when  that  nomination  was 
rejected,  they  seized  the  first  opportunity  to  obtain  a  snap- 
judgment  for  him,  and  placed  him  in  a  professor's  chair. 
Does  the  member  from  Boston  (Mr.  Lothrop)  think  this 


112  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

an  evidence   of  liberality,  of  a   desire   to  keep  along  with 
popular  opinion  ? 

44  Mr.  President,  the  men  who  have  thus,  in  defiance 
of  the  popular  voice,  sustained  Francis  Bowen,  cannot 
plead  ignorance  of  his  sentiments  and  opinions.  For  sev-' 
eral  years  he  has  edited  *  The  North-American  Review,'  — 
a  journal  which  claims  to  be  the  leading  literary  organ  of 
the  country,  but  which,  in  comparison  with  the  English 
reviews,  in  ability,  learning,  and  scholarship,  is  like  a 
Cape-Cod  fishing-smack  compared  to  a  line-of-battle  ship. 
Through  the  columns  of  this  journal,  for  years,  he  has 
avowed  sentiments  and  opinions  which  show  that  what 
ever  passes  through  his  mind  is  perverted ;  that  it  is 
impossible  for  him  to  give  a  truthful  and  philosophic  view 
of  the  events  of  history  in  the  Old  World  or  in  the  New, 
—  of  the  events  of  the  past,  or  of  the  events  of  the 
present  day.  Narrow,  bigoted,  intolerant,  he,  and  the  class 
of  which  he  is  the  head,  have  converted  4  The  North- 
American  Review,'  —  once  graced  by  the  genius  and  learn 
ing  of  Edward  Everett,  and  the  ripe  scholarship  and 
comprehensive  views  of  Alexander  H.  Everett ;  a  journal 
once  presided  over  by  that  liberal  and  true-hearted  scholar, 
John  G.  Palfrey  ;  by  Jared  Sparks,  who  has  done  more  for 
American  history  than  any  other  man  in  the  country  ;  and 
by  other  eminent  men,  who  made  4  The  Review '  worthy 
of  the  country  and  of  its  rising  literature,  —  he,  and  the 
class  of  which  he  is  the  head,  have  converted  that  Review 
into  a  narrow,  intolerant,  bigoted  organ  of  that  conservatism 
which  shrinks  from  every  tiling  progressive  at  home  or 
abroad.  Could  the  spirit  of  William  GifFord  —  who  battled 
with  such  ferocious  vigor  and  ability  through  4The  London 
Quarterly  Review  '  against  the  spirit  of  progress,  against 
the  rights  of  the  many,  and  for  the  exclusive  privileges  of 


SPEECHES.  113 

the  few —  come  back  to  earth,  he  would  be  delighted  with 
its  tone  of  fanatical  conservatism,  if  he  did  not  feel  utter 
contempt  for  its  want  of  power,  vigor,  learning,  and  ability. 
Through  the  columns  of  that  journal,  Francis  Bo  wen  has 
poured  out  his  slanders  and  libels  upon  the  great  leaders 
of  European  republicanism.  Men  illustrious  for  genius, 
ability,  learning,  eloquence,  and  self-sacrificing  patriotism  ; 
men  who  have  perilled  all  for  the  cause  of  republicanism  ; 
men  who  have  been  driven  into  exile  for  their  devotion  to 
popular  rights,  —  are  sneered  at,  libelled,  and  slandered  by 
this  professor  of  history,  this  teacher  of  moral  philosophy, 
through  the  pages  of  his  journal. 

"  When  the  re-action  of  1850  overran  Europe  ;  when 
the  high  hopes  excited  by  the  popular  revolutions  of  1848 
were  buried  in  the  graves  and  dungeons  of  the  martyrs 
of  freedom,  quenched  in  the  blood  of  the  people  ;  when 
the  voice  of  freedom  was  heard  only  in  the  murmurs  of 
the  down- trodden  masses,  or  in  the  sad  accents  of  their 
exiled  leaders ;  when  Hungary  went  down  before  the 
armed  intervention  of  Russia  ;  when  the  hopes  of  Italy 
fell  before  the  soldiers  of  Louis  Napoleon  ;  when  the  hopes 
of  the  friends  of  republicanism  in  France,  Italy,  Ger 
many,  Hungary,  and  on  all  the  continent,  had  failed  ;  when 
the  prisons  were  crowded  with  patriots  ;  when  banish 
ment  was  the  sad  fate  of  some  of  the  noblest  men  of  the 
age  ;  when  Kossuth  was  languishing  in  his  Turkish  exile,  — 
Francis  Bowen  placed  '  The  North-American  Review  '  on 
the  side  of  the  oppressor,  and  falsified  and  garbled  even 
the  oppressor's  historical  authorities,  in  order  to  blast  the 
names  of  the  champions  of  freedom.  When  Kossuth  was 
in  a  Turkish  prison,  Francis  Bowen  sneeringly  called  him 
4  a  renegade,'  '  a  fanatic  and  ultraist,'  '  a  demagogue  and 

radical  of   the   lowest  stamp.'     Such  were   the   epithets 
10* 


114  LITE  OF  HENKY  WILSON. 

applied  to  one  whom  so  many  now  here  have  welcomed 
to  this  Commonwealth,  where  he  won  all  hearts  by  his 
noble  qualities  of  mind  and  character.  Mazzini,  Gari 
baldi,  and  the  Italian  patriots,  are  denounced  as  '  conspi 
rators  '  and  *  brigands.'  And,  sir,  this  man,  this  libeller 
of  European  republicanism,  this  narrow,  bigoted  advocate 
of  a  conservatism  that  shrinks  from  all  change,  is  the  man 
selected  by  the  corporators  of  Harvard  College  to  teach 
the  young  men  of  that  university  history  and  moral 
philosophy  !  " 

After  the  close  of  the  convention  Mr.  Wilson  published 
an  address  to  his  constituents,  in  which  he  explains  with 
remarkable  clearness  the  nature,  and  recommends  the 
adoption,  of  the  proposed  amendments.  The  State,  how 
ever,  refused  to  sanction  them  by  its  vote  ;  and  the  reason 
for  it  appears  in  the  concluding  part  of  his  remarks  :  — 

44  Ardent  friends  of  constitutional  reform  may  have  felt 
a  degree  of  disappointment  at  the  action  of  the  conven 
tion  upon  some  questions  deemed  by  them  of  the  first 
importance.  These  friends  of  reform  should  remember 
that  Massachusetts  is  an  old  Commonwealth ;  that  she  has 
a  history,  a  glorious  past,  full  of  recollections  and  memo 
ries.  They  should  remember  that  her  people  cherish  with 
affectionate  regard  the  works  and  memories  of  their 
glorious  ancestry :  they  will  not  touch  with  irreverent 
hand  the  works  achieved  by  their  fathers.  They  should 
remember  that  the  people  of  Massachusetts  instinctively 
shrink  from  all  untried  experiments.  They  should  also 
remember  that  the  first  proposition  for  a  convention  to 
revise  the  Constitution  was  lost  in  1851,  and  that  in  1852 
it  was  carried  by  immense1  efforts.  Recalling  to  mind 
these  facts,  they  cannot  fail  to  realize  the  profound  wisdom 


KESTJLT  OF  THE   CONVENTION.  115 

of  that  policy  by  which  the  convention  was  guided,  —  a 
policy  which  refused  to  peril  wise  and  beneficent  measures 
of  reform  by  the  adoption  of  untried  and  hazardous  ex 
periments,  or  radical  changes  which  the  people  were  not 
prepared  to  sustain.  The  men  of  the  majority  of  the 
convention,  the  men  whose  untiring  efforts  had  carried 
the  convention  before  the  people  against  powerful  combi 
nations  and  great  interests,  the  men  whose  efforts  had 
secured  more  than  a  hundred  majority  of  reformers  in 
the  convention,  clearly  saw  that  the  hope,  the  last  and 
only  hope,  of  the  leaders  of  the  opposition,  who  had  denied 
the  constitutionality  of  the  act  calling  the  convention,  who 
had  voted  against  it  two  years  in  the  legislature,  opposed 
it  before  the  people,  and  demanded  its  repeal  by  the  legisla 
ture  of  1853,  depended  solely  upon  the  adoption  of  untried 
experiments  and  radical  changes.  When  the  chiefs  of  the 
opposition  saw  that  the  men  who  had  proposed  and  car 
ried  the  convention,  and  were  a  controlling  majority  in  it, 
were  masters  of  their  work,  they  showed  unmistakable 
signs  that  the  last  hope  to  which  they  clung  had  forever 
vanished,  and  that  the  battle  was  lost. 

u  The  organs  of  that  conservatism  which  has,  to  use 
the  words  of  Rufus  Choate,  '  a  morbid,  unreasoning,  and 
regretful  passion  for  the  past,'  are  now  making  unwonted 
efforts  to  rally,  steady,  and  marshal  the  reeling  columns 
and  oscillating  ranks  of  the  opposition." 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

MR.  WILSON'S    ENDEAVOR    TO    UNITE    CONFLICTING    PARTIES 

ON    THE   SLAVE-QUESTION. THE    SENTIMENT  OF    THE 

STATE     UPON     AGGRESSIONS     OF     THE     SOUTH.  — 

ELECTION  TO  THE  UNITED-STATES  SENATE. — 

SPEECH    IN    THE    SENATE. 


Candidate  for  Governor.  —  Defeated.  —  Not  disheartened.  —  Visit  to  Washing 
ton.  —  His  Grand  Idea.  —  Ready  to  surrender  Party  for  Principle.  —  Con 
vention  at  Worcester,  1854.  —  Again  nominated  for  Governor,  and  defeated. 
—  State  goes  into  the  American  Organization.  —  His  Views. — Southern 
Domination. — Antislavery  Sentiment  increasing.  —  Sumner. — Mr.  Wil 
son  nominated  United-States  Senator.  —  His  Firmness.  —  His  Election.  — 
United-States  Senate-Chamber.  —  His  Fitness  for  the  Place.  —  His  Persona] 
Appearance.  —  His  First  Speech.  —  Letter  from  Mr.  Ashmun.  —  Extract 
from  Mr.  Parker's  Sermon,  and  Letter  from  the  Same. 


A  LT HOUGH  Mr.  Wilson  received  in  September  of 
J--L  this  year  (1853)  all  but  three  of  the  six  hundred 
votes  of  the  Free  Democratic  Convention  as  their  candi 
date  for  governor,  he  failed  of  an  election.  This  was 
owing  mainly  to  a  letter  of  Mr.  Caleb  Gushing,  denoun 
cing,  on  behalf  of  the  administration,  the  union  of  the 
Democrats  with  the  Reform  party,  and  to  the  animosity 
of  the  Whigs,  arising  from  the  active  part  Mr.  Wilson  took 
in  support  of  liberal  principles  in  the  Constitutional  Con 
vention.  In  spite  of  this  combination,  however,  over 
thirty  thousand  votes  were  thrown  for  him ;  and  neither 

116 


ENDEAVORS  TO   UNITE   ON   SLAVE-QUESTION.      117 

he  himself,  nor  his  supporters,  wavered  in  their  purpose  or 
their  hopes.  Defeat  was,  to  them,  the  signal  for  renewed 
vigilance  and  exertion.  The  Southern  Congress -men 
were  pressing  their  proslavery  measures  with  more  and 
more  audacity ;  while  the  Northern  members,  Charles 
Sumner  and  his  few  compeers  excepted,  anxious  for 
personal  power,  and  intimidated  by  the  constant  threat 
ening  of  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  presented  but  a  feeble 
opposition.  It  was  not  the  time  for  the  friends  of  the 
slave,  though  defeated,  to  fall  back,  or  to  be  disheartened. 
"  The  principles  of  civil  freedom,"  said  Mr.  Wilson, 
"  spring  from  the  New  Testament ;  and  the  word  of  the 
Lord  will  stand.  Let  us,  then,  go  forward." 

In  the  following  year  (1854)  the  attempt  to  abrogate 
the  Missouri  Compromise  (carried  into  effect  May  31), 
and  thus  extend  the  blight  of  slavery  over  the  vast 
domains  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  threw  the  country  into 
intense  excitement.  Mr.  Wilson  went  to  Washington  in 
May,  and  held  a  consultation  with  the  opponents  of  the 
Kansas  and  Nebraska  Bill,  then  pending,  in  the  hope 
of  uniting  men  opposed  to  slavery  into  one  solid  organ 
ization  against  its  further  extension  over  the  States  and 

O 

Territories  of  the  Union.  His  grand  idea  was  free 
labor  for  the  whole  continent  of  America.  For  party, 
or  for  name  or  men,  he  had  but  little  care,  provided  he 
could  in  any  way  arrest  the  encroachments  of  the  slave- 
power,  and  make  advancement  towards  the  consummation 
of  his  purpose.  His  thought  was  one,  —  it  was  earnest  and 
sincere,  —  and  that  was,  "  death  to  human  servitude." 
He  would  not,  unless  compelled,  resort  to  force,  but  was 
ready  to  unite  with  any  organization  for  the  overthrow  of 
a  system  which  he  deemed  indefensible  either  by  the  laws 
of  God,  of  nature,  or  humanity,  opposed  to  civil  progress, 


118  LIFE   OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

barbarous  and  cruel,  and  a  dishonor  and  d^sgrace  to  the 
American  name.  He  was  called  an  agitator :  he  had  no 
time  to  answer,  but  moved  onward.  Finding  that  the 
Free-soil  party  had  not  strength  to  meet  the  exigency,  he 
avowed,  in  a  convention  of  this  body  held  in  Boston  on 
the  last  day  of  the  month  (May),  that  they  were  ready  to 
abandon  every  thing  but  principle,  and  unite  with  men  of 
any  political  standard  for  the  sake  of  union  in  resisting  the 
aggressive  policy  of  the  South.  They  were  willing  to 
place  any  men  in  power  who  would  stand  faithful  to  the 
cause  of  freedom  and  of  human  right.  "  They  were 
ready,"  he  declared,  "  to  go  to  the  rear.  If  a  forlorn  hope 
was  to  be  led,  they  would  lead  it.  They  would  toil :  others 
might  take  the  lead,  hold  the  offices,  and  win  the  honors. 
The  hour  had  come  to  form  one  great  Republican  party, 
which  should  hereafter  guide  the  policy  and  control  the 
destinies  of  the  republic." 

For  the  purpose  of  uniting  political  parties  on  the  slave- 
question,  a  convention  was  held  in  Worcester  on  the  tenth 
day  of  August,  1854  ;  and  there,  again,  Mr.  Wilson  and 
his  associates  urged  with  great  force  and  ability  the  fusion 
of  the  different  organizations  into  one  grand  body  for  the 
effectual  resistance  of  the  aggressive  policy  of  the  South. 
"  The  Free-soil  party  would  concede  every  thing  but  prin 
ciple  :  all  they  demanded  was  the  acceptance  of  their  doc 
trines  of  perpetual  hostility  to  the  slave-power."  These 
overtures  were  steadily  rejected  by  the  Whig  element  in 
the  convention  ;  yet,  with  unabated  energy,  Mr.  Wilson 
continued  to  press  the  importance  of  merging  every 
political  creed  in  one.  In  his  desire  to  combine  the 
antislavery  elements  in  the  State,  he  accepted  the  nomi 
nation  of  the  Republicans  for  governor,  and  was  again 
defeated  at  the  election.  For  entering  into  the  American 


ENDEAVORS  TO  UNITE  ON  SLAVE-QUESTION.      119 

organization  this  year,  his  course  was  criticised  by  :aiany : 
but  the  people,  finding  union  under  the  Whig  leadership 
impossible,  went  into  that  party ;  and  he,  believing  that  it 
might  be  so  liberalized  and  broadened  in  its  principles  as 
to  advance  the  cause  of  freedom,  decided  (March,  1854) 
to  cast  in  his  influence  with  them.  Personally  he  is,  and 
ever  was,  a  friend  to  the  foreigner,  and  ever  bids  him 
welcome  to  the  rights  and  privileges  of  this  free  country : 
but  then  the  slave-power  was  triumphant  in  the  passage  of 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise ;  and  he  deemed  it 
advisable  to  array,  as  far  as  possible,  the  powerful  Ameri 
can  organization  against  the  proslavery  propagandists.  In 
his  expectations  he  was  not  disappointed ;  for  this  union 
resulted  in  the  election  of  several  liberal  men  as  represen 
tatives  to  Congress,  and  "  of  the  most  radical  antislavery 
State  legislature  ever  chosen  in  America." 

In  a  letter  dated  April  20,  1859,  he  thus  presents  the 
course  of  policy  which  he  has  undeviatingly  pursued  ;  and 
in  it  we  may  discover  the  reason  of  his  union  with  the 
American  party :  — 

"  For  more  than  twenty  years  I  have  believed  the  anti- 
slavery  cause  to  be  the  great  cause  of  our  age  in  America,  — 
a  cause  which  overshadowed  all  other  issues,  state  or  na 
tional,  foreign  or  domestic.  In  my  political  action  I  have 
ever  endeavored  to  make  it  the  paramount  question,  and 
to  subordinate  all  minor  issues  to  this  one  grand  and  com 
prehensive  idea.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  friends  of  a  cause 
so  vast,  so  sacred,  should  ever  strive  to  save  it  from  being 
burdened  by  the  pressure  of  temporary  interests  and  local 
and  comparatively  immaterial  questions.  With  the  issues 
involved  in  the  solution  of  the  slavery  question  in  America, 
with  the  lights  I  have  to  guide  my  action,  I  should  feel,  if 
I  put  a  burden  on  the  antislavery  cause  by  pressing  the 


120  LIFE  OF  HENEY  WILSON. 

adoption  of  measures  of  minor  importance,  that  I  was  com 
mitting  a  crime  against  millions  of  hapless  bondmen,  and 
should  deserve  their  lasting  reproaches  and  the  rebuke  of 
all  true  men  who  were  toiling  to  dethrone  that  gigantic 
power  which  perverts  the  National  Government  to  the  in 
terest  of  oppression." 

Mr.  Wilson,  as  an  acknowledged  leader,  evinced  the 
skill  of  a  practised  engineer  in  so  blending  and  combin 
ing  political  parties  as  to  form  a  legislature  of  an  anti- 
slavery  character.  But  it  will  be  remembered  that  the 
sentiment  of  the  State  against  the  aggressions  and  the 
insolence  of  the  South  had  for  several  years  been  steadily 
gaining  strength.  The  passage  of  the  Fugitive-slave  Act, 
1850,  by  which  the  North  became  a  vast  slave-hunting 
field  ;  the  trial  and  rendition  of  Anthony  Burns  in  1854 ; 
the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  by  which  the  Mis 
souri  Compromise  was  virtually  repealed ;  the  border-ruf 
fianism  and  the  reign  of  terror  in  Kansas,  in  which  many 
people  from  Massachusetts  lost  their  property  or  their  lives, 
—  these  with  other  acts  and  outrages  of  the  slaveholding 
party,  whose  policy  was  to  select  for  leaders  Northern  men 
with  Southern  principles,  awakened  more  and  more  the 
indignation  of  this  State.  The  pulpit  began  to  speak  upon 
the  theme  ;  the  press  proclaimed  the  iniquity ;  the  work 
man  in  his  workshop  talked  of  the  Missourian  barbarities  in 
Kansas;  and  the  statesman  showed  the  suicidal  policy  of 
the  South  :  so  that  the  anti-servile  legislature  of  1855  was 
but  an  exponent  of  the  spirit  of  the  State ;  and  Mr.  Wil 
son,  as  he  himself  declared,  "  instead  of  controlling  cir 
cumstances,  was,  by  the  force  of  circumstances,"  led  into 
success. 

While  the  heart  of  the  Commonwealth  was  throbbing 
under  the  arrogant  assumption  of  the  slavocracy,  now 


SENTIMENT   OF   THE   STATE.  121 

triumphing  in  the  reclamation  of  the  fugitive,  in  the  atro 
cities  of  the  Missourians  in  Kansas,  and  the  subserviency 
of  a  Northern  president,  Mr.  Edward  Everett,  on  account 
of  failing  health,  sent  in  his  resignation  to  the  Senate.  Mr. 
Sumner  was  making  great  efforts  to  resist  Southern  influ 
ence,  and  dealing  gallant  blows  in  defence  of  freedom. 
Now,  who  shall  be  sent  to  stand  by  him  ?  Who  shall  take 
the  place  of  the  accomplished  orator,  four  years  of  whose 
term  were  unexpired,  and  face  with  an  unfaltering  front 
the  issues  on  the  floor  of  Congress  ?  Who  has  the  historical 
knowledge,  the  legislative  skill,  the  statesmanship,  the  hon 
esty,  the  unconquerable  will,  the  force,  and  the  backbone, 
to  meet  the  exigency  ?  Who  can  best  represent  the  prin 
ciples,  the  spirit,  and  the  fire  of  Massachusetts  in  the  Sen 
ate-chamber  ?  The  answer  of  the  State  was,  "  Henry 
Wilson."  On  the  first  ballot  in  the  caucus  he  was  nomi 
nated,  notwithstanding  strenuous  opposition,  by  a  majority 
of  more  than  a  hundred  votes.  Pending  the  election, 
several  gentlemen  in  favor  of  nationalizing  the  American 
party  solicited  him  to  write  a  letter  modifying  his  avowed 
opinions  on  the  slavery  question,  that  they  might,  consist 
ently  with  their  political  principles,  give  him  their  support. 
They  might  as  easily  have  moved  the  granite  hills  irom 
which  he  came.  He  assured  them  that  his  opinions  on  the 
slavery  question  were  the  matured  convictions  of  his  life, 
and  that  he  would  not  qualify  them  to  win  the  highest 
position  on  earth ;  that  he  had  not  travelled  one  mile  *  nor 
uttered  one  word  to  secure  his  nomination  ;  that,  if  elected, 
he  should  carry  his  opinions  with  him  into  the  Senate  ;  and, 
if  the  party  with  which  he  acted  proved  recreant  to  freedom, 
he  would  shiver  it,  if  he  possessed  the  power,  to  atoms. 

*  In  a  letter  to  Hon.  Gilbert  Pillsbury,  dated  Natick,  March  10,  1855,  he  saya, 
"  You  also  know  that  I  never  travelled  a  single  mile  to  secure  a  vote,  or  at»kud  » 
•Ingle  member  of  the  House  or  Senate  to  vote  for  me." 
11 


122  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

He  was  elected  by  two  hundred  and  thirty -four  to  a 
hundred  and  thirty  votes  in  the  House,  and  twenty-one 
to  nineteen  votes  in  the  Senate ;  *  and  took  his  seat  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  on  the  tenth  day  of  Febru 
ary,  1855.  It  was  a  time  of  wild  and  stormy  debate  in 
Congress  on  great  questions  between  the  friends  and 
foes  of  slavery.  The  Southern  men  were  combining  with 
a  section  of  the  American  party  of  the  North,  and  pre 
senting  an  unbroken  front  against  the  advocates  of  free 
dom.  They  seemed  to  menace  and  to  fight,  as  if  the  crisis 
and  the  doom  of  their  inhuman  domination  had  arrived. 
The  great  "  Northern  hammer,"  wielded  by  the  stalwart 
arm  of  Giddings,  Hale,  or  Sumner,  was  descending  with 
effect;  and  the  cry  of  "  No  more  slave  States"  was  peal 
ing  through  the  land. 

The  halls  of  Congress  rang  with  fierce  invective,  threats 
of  violence,  and  oaths  of  condign  punishment.  "  To  me," 
said  Mr.  Giddings,  "  it  is  a  severer  trial  of  human  nerve 
than  the  facing  of  cannon  and  bullets  on  the  battle-field.". 

Mr.  Wilson  was  now  forty-three  years  old  :  f  he  had 
arrived  at  the  full  vigor  of  manhood ;  his  health  was  per 
fect  ;  his  principles  were  fixed,  his  plans  matured ;  his 
heart  and  hand  were  ready  for  the  contest ;  and,  on  enter 
ing  that  tumultuous  assembly,  he  took  position  at  once, 
and  stood  firm  as  a  rock  for  truth  and  liberty.  Though 
he  had  not  the  grace  or  rhetoric  of  his  predecessor,  he  had 
the  knowledge,  the  tact,  the  working-power,  the  dauntless 

*  N.  F.  Bryant  of  Barre  and  J.  A.  Rockwell  were  the  principal  opposing  candi 
dates  in  the  House,  and  E.  M.  Wright  in  the  Senate. 

f  The  following  description  of  Mr.  Wilson's  personal  appearance  was  written  at 
the  time :  "  The  senator  from  Massachusetts  is  about  five  feet  ten  inches  high ;  and 
weighs,  I  should  think,  about  a  hundred  and  sixty-five  pounds.  He  has  a  small 
hand  and  foot,  and  seems  built  for  agility.  His  complexion  is  flcrid,  hia  hair  brown, 
and  his  eye  blue.  His  ample  brow  indicates  ideality  and  causation;  his  voice  is 
strong  and  clear.  He  is,  on  the  whole,  decidedly  good-looking;  and  seems  fearleM 
and  good-natured  in  the  performance  of  hia  senatorial  duties." 


SPEECH   IN  THE  SENATE.  123 

heroism,  which  come  to  the  front  when  mighty  interests 
are  at  stake. 

In  his  first  speech  in  the  Senate  he  announced  his  deter 
mination  fearlessly  to  stand  with  his  antislavery  friends  in 
the  defence  of  the  rights  of  the  colored  race.  It  was  upon 
the  bill  of  Mr.  Toucey  of  Connecticut,  "  to  protect  persons 
executing  the  Fugitive-slave  Act  from  prosecution  by  State 
courts."  "  Now,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Wilson,  "  I  assure  senators 
from  the  South  that  we  of  the  free  States  mean  to  change 
our  policy.  I  tell  you  frankly  just  how  we  feel,  and  just 
what  we  propose  to  do.  We  mean  to  withdraw  from  these 
halls  that  class  of  public  men  who  have  betrayed  us  and 
deceived  you,  —  men  who  have  misrepresented  us,  and  not 
dealt  frankly  with  you ;  and  we  intend  to  send  men  into 
these  halls  who  will  truly  represent  us,  and  deal  justly  with 
you.  We  mean,  sir,  to  place  in  the  councils  of  the  nation 
men  who,  in  the  words  of  Jefferson,  4  have  sworn  on  the 
altar  of  God  eternal  hostility  to  every  kind  of  oppression 
of  the  mind  and  body  of  man.'  Yes,  sir,  we  mean  to  place 
in  the  national  councils  men  who  cannot  be  seduced  by  the 
blandishments,  or  deterred  by  the  threats,  of  power,  —  men 
who  will  fearlessly  maintain  our  principles.  I  assure  sen 
ators  from  the  South  that  the  people  of  the  North  entertain 
for  them  and  their  people  no  feelings  of  hostility  ;  but  they 
will  no  longer  consent  to  be  misrepresented  by  their  own 
representatives,  nor  proscribed  for  their  fidelity  to  freedom. 
This  determination  of  the  people  of  the  North  has  mani 
fested  itself  during  the  past  few  months  in  acts  not  to  be 
misread  by  the  country.  The  stern  rebuke  administered 
to  faithless  Northern  representatives,  and  the  annihilation 
of  old  and  powerful  political  organizations,  should  teach 
senators  that  the  days  of  waning  power  are  upon  them. 
This  action  of  the  people  teaches  the  lesson,  which  I  hope 


124  LIFK   OF    HENRY    WILSON. 

will  be  heeded,  that  political  combinations  can  n:>  lo.iger  bo 
successfully  made  to  suppress  the  sentiments  of  the  people. 
We  believe  we  have  the  power  to  abolish  slavery  in  all  the 
Territories  of  the  Union  ;  that,  if  slavery  exists  there,  it 
exists  by  the  permission  and  sanction  of  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment,  and  we  are  responsible  for  it.  We  are  in  favor 
of  its  abolition  wherever  we  are  morally  or  legally  respon 
sible  for  its  existence. 

"  I  believe  conscientiously,  that  if  slavery  should  be 
abolished  by  the  National  Government  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  and  in  the  Territories,  the  Fugitive-slave  Act 
repealed,  the  Federal  Government  relieved  from  all  con 
nection  with  or  responsibility  for  the  existence  of  slavery, 
these  angry  debates  banished  from  the  halls  of  Congress, 
and  slavery  left  to  the  people  of  the  States,  the  men  of 
the  South  who  are  opposed  to  the  existence  of  that  insti 
tution  would  get  rid  of  it  in  their  own  States  at  no  dis 
tant  day.  I  believe,  that,  if  slavery  is  ever  peacefully 
abolished  in  this  country,  —  and  I  certainly  believe  it 
will  'be,  —  it  must  be  abolished  in  this  way. 

"  The  senator  from  Indiana  (Mr.  Pettit)  has  made  a  long 
argument  to-night  to  prove  the  inferiority  of  the  African 
race.  Well,  sir,  I  have  no  contest  with  the  senator  upon 
that  question ;  but  I  say  to  the  senator  from  Indiana,  that 
I  know  men  of  that  race  who  are  quite  equal  in  mental 
power  to  either  the  senator  from  Indiana  or  myself, —  men 
who  are  scarcely  inferior,  in  that  respect,  to  any  senators 
upon  this  floor.  But,  sir,  suppose  the  senator  from  Indiana 
succeeds  in  establishing  the  inferiority  of  that  despised 
race :  is  mental  inferiority  a  valid  reason  for  the  perpetual 
oppression  of  a  race?  Is  the  mental,  moral,  or  physical 
inferiority  of  a  man  a  just  cause  of  oppression  in  republican 
and  Christian  America  ?  Sir,  is  this  democracy  ?  Is  it 


SPEECH  IN  THE  SENATE.  125 

Christianity  ?  Democracy  cares  for  the  poor,  the  lowly, 
the  humble.  Democracy  demands  that  the  panoply  of 
just  and  equal  laws  shall  shield  and  protect  the  weakest  of 
the  sons  of  men.  Sir,  these  are  strange  doctrines  to  hear 
uttered  in  the  Senate  of  republican  America,  whose  politi 
cal  institutions  are  based  upon  the  fundamental  idea  that 
4  all  men  are  created  equal.'  If  the  African  race  is  infe 
rior,  this  proud  race  of  ours  should  educate  and  elevate  it, 
and  not  deny  to  those  who  belong  to  it  the  rights  of  our 
common  humanity. 

"  The  senator  from  Indiana  boasts  that  his  State  imposes 
a  fine  upon  the  white  man  who  gives  employment  to  the 
free  black  man.  I  am  not  surprised  at  the  degradation  of 
the  colored  people  of  Indiana,  who  are  compelled  to  live 
under  such  inhuman  laws,  and  oppressed  by  the  public 
sentiment  that  enacts  and  sustains  them.  I  thank  God, 
sir,  Massachusetts  is  not  dishonored  by  such  laws !  In 
Massachusetts  we  have  about  seven  thousand  colored  peo 
ple.  They  have  the  same  rights  that  we  have  ;  they  go  to 
our  free  schools  ;  they  enter  all  the  business  and  professional 
relations  of  life  ;  they  vote  in  our  elections  ;  and,  in  intelli 
gence  and  character,  are  scarcely  inferior  to  the  citizens  of 
this  proud  and  peerless  race  whose  superiority  we  have 
heard  so  vauntingly  proclaimed  to-night  by  the  senators 
from  Tennessee  and  Indiana." 

Mr.  Wilson's  uncompromising  attitude  in  the  Senate 
drew  forth  many  expressions  of  admiration,  even  from  his 
political  opponents  at  home.  The  following  frank  letter 
from  the  late  Hon.  George  Ashmun  indicates  the  spirit 
with  which  many,  who  then  disagreed  with  him,  regarded 
his  consistent  action:  •— 
11* 


126  LIFE   OF   HENKY    WILSON. 

SPRINGFIELD,  Feb.  28,  1855. 

DEAR  SIR, —  This  world  has  many  seemingly  queer 
changes.  It  seems  queer  to  see  you  in  the  United- States 
Senate,  and  perhaps  more  queer  for  me  to  say  to  you  an 
approving  word.  But  I  have  a  short  memory  for  wrongs 
which  are  merely  personal  to  myself,  and  am  quite  ready 
to  do  justice  in  spite  of  some  needless  abusive  things  which 
the  newspapers  have  formerly  reported  from  you.  I 
therefore  sit  down  for  a  moment  to  say  that  your  letter  to 
"  The  Organ,"  and  some  brief  speeches  in  the  Senate,  have 
given  me  entire  satisfaction.  It  is  not  very  important  for 
me  to  say  it,  nor  for  you  to  hear  it :  but,  having  myself  cut 
loose  from  all  party  alliances  for  the  present  and  the 
future,  I  can  afford  to  do  what  a  party  man  cannot;  i.e., 
tell  the  truth  of  friend  or  foe. 

Your  demonstrations  thus  far  show  two  things :  1st, 
That,  when  a  man  of  sense  finds  himself  in  a  national 
position,  he  is  quite  sure  to  throw  off  the  slough  of  pro 
vincialism  ;  and,  2d,  That,  whatever  your  antecedents  may 
have  been,  you  have  the  courage  to  take  ground  which  men 
of  sense  at  home  will  sustain  you  in. 

I  mean  to  see  in  you  nothing  else  than  a  Massachusetts 
senator,  and  hope  to  see  in  your  course  nothing  else  than 
a  vindication  of  Massachusetts  honor.  You  have,  by  the 
present  confusion  of  all  old  parties,  a  clear  field,  and  am 
ple  room  to  conquer  all  the  prejudices  which  the  low  and 
miserable  strife  of  factions  at  home  may  have  given  life 
to ;  and  you  will  find  but  feeble  and  fickle  support  in  the 
mere  appliances  ot  party.  You  cannot  conform  to  the 
narrow  and  exacting  spirit  of  a  local  party ;  but  you  can 
deserve  and  command  the  respect  and  confidence  of  those 
•whose  eyes  look  beyond  a  village  or  a  provincial  horizon. 

It  is  and  has  been  too  much  the  habit  of  our  people  to 


LETTEES  FROM  ASHMUN  AND   PAEKEE.  127 

abuse  their  senators  and  representatives  at  Washington  for 
any  nonconformity  to  every  article  in  their  several  and 
individual  creeds.  Your  predecessors  have  been  shamefully 
treated  in  this  respect ;  and  the  consequence  has  been  that 
their  hands  have  been  weakened,  and  Massachusetts  has 
lost  nearly  all  its  ancient  influence. 

I  hold  to  a  different  doctrine,  and  feel  that  a  liberal  confi 
dence  in  advance  is  due  alike  to  ourselves  and  our  servants. 
Therefore,  while  I  should  not  by  my  vote  have  placed  you 
in  the  Senate,  and  while  I  cannot  agree  to  some  of  your 
heresies,  I  feel  moved  to  send  you  this  expression  of  my 
sincere  gratification  at  the  ground  on  which  you  have  placed 
yourself  at  the  outset  of  your  career. 

Very  respectfully, 
Mr.  WILSON.  GEO-   ASHMUN. 

In  a  sermon  delivered  July  1,  1855,  the  Rev.  Theo 
dore  Parker  thus,  in  his  plain  way,  refers  to  Mr.  Wilson's 
advancement  and  his  brave  defence  of  freedom :  — 

"  When"  a  noble  man  rises  in  the  State,  how  much  we 
honor  him !  when  a  mean  man,  how  we  despise  him ! 
Massachusetts,  within  a  few  months,  has  taken  a  man  from 
a  shoemaker's  bench,  and  placed  him  in  the  Senate,  in  the 
very  chair  left  vacant  by  the  most  scholarly  man,  who  had 
fallen  from  it,  and  rolled  wallowing  in  the  dust  at  his  feet  ; 
and,  when  the  senatorial  shoemaker  speaks  brave  words  of 
right  and  justice  (and  in  these  times  he  speaks  no  other), 
the  people,  not  only  of  Massachusetts,  but  of  all  the  North, 
rise  up,  and  say,  'Well  done!  here  are  our  hands  fot 
you.'  " 

The  follo-.vinjj  letter  also  shows  Mr.  Parker's  estimation 
of  his  senatorial  course  :  — 


128  LIFE  OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

BOSTON,  July  7,  185) 

MY  DEAR  WILSON,  —  I  cannot  let  another  day  pass  by 
without  sending  you  a  line  —  all  I  have  time  for  —  to  thank 
you  for  the  noble  service  you  have  done  for  the  cause  of 
freedom.  You  stand  up  most  manfully  and  heroically,  and 
do  battle  for  the  right.  I  do  not  know  how  to  thank  you 
enough.  You  do  nobly  at  all  places,  all  times.  If  the  rest 
of  your  senatorial  term  be  like  this  part,  we  shall  see 
times  such  as  we  only  wished  for,  but  dared  not  hope  as  yet. 
There  is  a  North,  a  real  North,  quite  visible  now.  God 
bless  you  for  your  services,  and  keep  you  ready  for  more  ! 
Heartily  yours, 

THEODORE  PARKER, 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE   AMERICAN    PARTY.  —  SPEECHES.  —  PHILADELPHIA 

CONVENTION,    1855. CONTEST. SPEECH 

AT   SPRINGFIELD. 

Defection  of  the  American  Party.  —  Southern  Influence.  —  Wilson's  Resolution 

—  Interesting  Letter.  —  Address  in  New  York.  —  Antislavery  Cause  in  Peril. 

—  Brattleborough,   Vt.  —  Delegate    to  American  National  Council,  June, 
1855. —  Stand    for    Freedom.  —  Protest.  —  Defiant    Speech.  —  Letter   from 
Amasa  Walker.  —  Remarks  of  "The  Tribune."  — Activity  in  forming  a 
New   Party.  —  Speech  at  Springfield.  —  Twenty-one- Years  Amendment.  — 
Opposes  it.  —  Friendly  to  Foreigners.  —  Letter  to  Francis  Gillette.  —  Cath 
olic  Spirit. 

THE  favorable  attitude  toward  slavery  which  the 
National  American  party  assumed  in  the  council 
assembled  at  Cincinnati  in  November,  1854,  led  Mr.  Wil 
son  to  fear  that  the  Southern  element  might  soon  obtain 
entire  control  of  it ;  and  his  experience  at  Washington 
during  the  ensuing  spring  served  to  convince  him  that  his 
fear  was  far  from  being  groundless. 

Indeed,  strong  efforts  were  made  by  leading  men 
immediately  on  his  arrival  as  senator  in  that  city  to  secure 
his  aid  and  influence  in  the  organization  of  a  great  Amer 
ican  party  which  should  ignore  the  slavery  issue,  and 
sanction  the  assumptions  of  the  South.  His  honest  heart 
rebelled  against  such  recreancy  to  principle  ;  and  he  unhes 
itatingly  avowed  his  determination  to  maintain  the  stand 

129 


130  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

he  had  already  made  for  freedom  during  his  entire  political 
career. 

Speaking  of  this  Southern  influence  in  a  speech  before 
the  State  Council  at  Springfield,  Mass.,  he  said,  — 

"  On  my  arrival  at  Washington,  I  saw  at  a  glance  that 
the  politicians  of  the  South,  men  who  had  deserted  their 
Northern  associates  upon  the  Nebraska  issue,  were  resolved 
to  impose  upon  the  American  party,  by  the  aid  of  dough 
faces  from  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  as  the  test  of 
nationality,  fidelity  to  the  slave-power.  Flattering  words 
from  veteran  statesmen  were  poured  into  my  ears  ;  flat 
tering  appeals  were  made  to  me  to  aid  in  the  work  of 
nationalizing  the  party  whose  victories  in  the  South  were 
to  be  as  brilliant  as  they  had  been  in  the  North.  But  I 
resolved  that  upon  my  soul  the  sin  and  shame  of  silence 
or  submission  should  never  rest.  I  returned  home,  and 
determined  to  baffle,  if  I  could,  the  meditated  treason  to 
freedom  and  to  the  North." 

Again,  in  a  noble  reply  to  a  letter  from  a  friend,  he 
most  frankly  speaks  of  his  course  at  Washington,  and 
prophetically  announces  the  character  of  the  coming  ses 
sion  of  Congress  :  — 

NATICK,  July  23,  1855. 

DEAR  SIR,  —  On  my  return  from  a  trip  to  the  West,  I 
found  your  very  kind  note ;  and  I  need  not  tell  you  that  I 
read  it  with  grateful  emotions.  Your  approbation  —  the 
approbation  of  men  like  yourself,  whose  lives  are  devoted 
to  the  rights  of  human  nature  —  cannot  but  be  dear  to  me. 
I  only  regret  that  I  have  been  able  to  perform  so  little  for 
the  advancement  of  the  cause  our  hearts  love  and  our 
judgments  approve  ;  that  I  have  not  ability  to  do  all  that 
my  heart  prompts.  I  hope,  however,  my  dear  sir,  to  be 
able  to  do  my  duty  in  every  position  I  may  be  in,  if  not 


THE  AMERICAN  PARTY.  131 

with  the  ability  the  occasion  demands,  at  least  with  an 
honest  heart  that  shrinks  not  from  any  danger. 

Sometimes  I  read  over  the  letter  you  were  so  kind  as 
to  send  to  me  when  I  first  took  my  seat  in  the  Senate.  You 
dealt  frankly  with  me  in  that  letter,  and  I  thank  you  for  it ; 
and  I  hope  to  be  the  better  and  wiser  for  it.  I  shall 
endeavor  while  in  the  Senate  to  act  up  to  my  convictions 
of  duty,  —  to  do  what  I  feel  to  be  right.  If  I  can  so  labor 
as  to  advance  the  cause  of  universal  and  impartial  liberty 
in  the  country,  I  shall  be  content,  whether  my  action  meets 
the  approbation  of  the  politicians  or  not.  I  never  have 
sacrificed,  and  I  never  will  sacrifice,  that  cause  to  secure 
the  interests  of  any  party  or  body  of  men  on  earth.  The 
applause  of  political  friends  is  grateful  to  the  feelings  of 
any  man  in  public  life,  especially  if  he  is  bitterly  assailed 
by  political  enemies  ;  but  the  approbation  of  our  own  con 
sciences  is  far  dearer  to  us. 

Last  year,  after  the  attempt  was  made  to  repeal  the 
prohibition  of  slavery  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  the  people 
of  the  North  began  to  move  ;  and,  from  March  to  Novem 
ber,  the  friends  of  freedom  won  a  series  of  victories.  The 
moment  the  elections  were  over  in  the  North,  I  saw  that 
an  effort  was  to  be  made  to  assist  the  antislavery  move 
ment  by  the  American  movement.  When  I  arrived  at 
Washington,  I  was  courted  and  flattered  by  the  politicians  ; 
even  told  that  I  might  look  to  any  position  if  I  would  aid 
in  forming  a  national  party.  I  saw  that  men  who  had 
been  elected  to  Congress  by  the  friends  of  freedom  were 
ready  to  go  into  such  a  movement.  I  was  alarmed.  I 
saw  that  one  ot  three  things  must  happen,  —  that  the  anti- 
slavery  men  must  ignore  their  principles  to  make  a  na 
tional  party  ;  or  they  must  fight  for  the  supremacy  ot  their 
principles,  and  impose  them  upon  the  organization,  which 


132  LIFE  OF  HENRY   WILSON. 

would  drive  off  the  Southern  men  ;  or  they  must  break  up 
the  party.  I  came  home  with  the  resolution  to  carry  the 
convention  if  I  could  ;  to  have  it  take  a  moderate  but 
positive  antislavery  position  :  if  not,  I  determined  that  it 
should  be  broken  at  the  June  council,  so  that  the  friends 
of  freedom  might  have  time  to  rally  the  people.  Since  my 
return  in  March,  I  have  travelled  more  than  nine  thou 
sand  miles,  written  hundreds  of  letters,  and  done  all  I 
could  to  bring  about  what  has  taken  place.  But  the  work 
is  hardly  begun.  Our  antislavery  friends  have  a  mighty 
conflict  on  hand  for  the  next  sixteen  months.  It  will  de 
mand  unwavering  resolution,  dauntless  courage,  and  cease 
less  labor,  joined  with  kindness,  moderation,  and  patience. 
The  next  Congress  will  be  the  most  violent  one  in  our 
history  :  it  will  try  our  firmness.  I  hope  our  friends  will 
meet  the  issues  bravely  ;  and,  if  violence  and  bloodshed 
come,  let  us  not  falter,  but  do  our  duty,  even  if  we  fall  on 
the  floors  of  Congress.  At  Philadelphia,  for  eight  days,  I 
met  the  armed  delegates  of  the  black  power  without  shrink 
ing  ;  and  I  hope  to  do  so  at  the  next  session  of  Congress  if 
it  is  necessary  to  do  so.  We  must  let  the  South  under 
stand  that  threats  of  dissolving  the  Union,  of  civil  war,  and 
personal  violence,  will  not  deter  us  from  doing  our  whole 
duty.  Yours  truly, 

H.  WILSON. 

In  in  address  before  a  large  audience  in  the  Metropoli 
tan  Theatre,  New  York,  delivered  on  the  8th  of  May, 
1855,  and  repeated  in  many  towns  and  cities  in  New 
England,  he  traced  the  growth  of  the  antislavery  senti 
ment  in  America  for  the  last  twenty  years,  and  warned 
his  hearers  that  any  party  ignoring  this  rising  power 
would  be  overthrown  by  an  indignant  people. 


SPEECHES.  13  B 

"  He  owed  it  to  truth,"  he  said,  "to  speak  what  he 
knew,  —  that  the  antislavery  cause  was  in  extreme  peril ; 
that  a  demand  was  made  upon  us  of  the  North  to  ignore 
the  slavery-question,  to  keep  quiet,  and  to  go  into  power  in 
1856.  If  there  were  men  in  the  free  States  who  hoped 
to  triumph  in  1856  by  ignoring  the  slavery-issues  now 
forced  upon  the  nation  by  the  slave  propagandists,  he 
would  say  to  them  that  the  antislavery  men  cannot  be 
reduced  or  driven  into  the  organization  of  a  party  that 
ignores  the  question  of  slavery  in  Christian  and  republi 
can  America.  Let  such  men  read  and  ponder  the  history 
or  the  republic.  Let  them  contrast  antislavery  in  1835 
and  antislavery  in  1855.  Those  periods  are  the  grand 
epochs  in  the  antislavery  movement ;  and  the  contrast 
between  them  cannot  fail  to  give  us  some  faint  conception 
of  the  mighty  changes  that  twenty  years  of  antislavery 
agitation  have  wrought  in  America.  Antislavery  in  1835 
was  in  the  nadir  of  its  weakness :  antislavery  in  1855  is 
in  the  zenith  of  its  power.  Then  a  few  unknown,  name 
less  men  were  its  apostles  and  leaders:  now  the  most  pro 
found  and  accomplished  intellects  of  America  are  its  chiefs 
and  champions.  Then  a  few  proscribed  and  humble 
followers  rallied  around  its  banner :  now  it  has  laid  its 
grasp  upon  the  conscience  of  the  people,  and  hundreds  of 
thousands  rally  under  the  folds  of  its  flag.  Then  not  a 
Dingle  statesman  in  all  America  accepted  its  doctrines  or 
defended  its  measures :  now  it  has  a  decisive  majority  in 
the  national  House  of  Representatives,  and  is  rapidly 
changing  the  complexion  of  the  American  Senate.  Then 
every  State  in  the  Union  was  arrayed  against  it :  now  it 
controls  fifteen  sovereign  States  by  more  than  three  hun 
dred  thousand  popular  majority.  Then  the  public  press 
covered  it  with  ridicule  and  contempt :  now  the  most 

12 


134  LIFE  OF   HENBY   WILSON. 

powerful  journals  in  America  are  its  instruments.  Tlier 
the  benevolent,  religious,  and  literary  institutions  of  the 
land  repulsed  its  advances,  rebuked  its  doctrines,  and  per 
secuted  its  advocates  :  now  it  shapes,  moulds,  and  fashions 
them  at  its  pleasure,  compelling  the  most  powerful  benevo 
lent  organizations  of  the  Western  World,  upon  whose  mis 
sion-stations  the  sun  never  sets,  to  execute  its  decrees,  and 
the  oldest  literary  institution  in  America  to  cast  from  its 
bosom  a  professor  who  had  surrendered  a  man  to  the 
slave-hunters.  Then  the  political  organizations  trampled 
disdainfully  upon  it :  now  it  looks  down  with  the  pride  of 
conscious  power  upon  the  wrecked  political  fragments  that 
float  at  its  feet.  Then  it  was  impotent  and  powerless  : 
now  it  holds  every  political  organization  in  the  hollow  of 
its  right  hand.  Then  the  public  voice  sneered  at  and 
defied  it :  now  it  is  the  master  of  America,  and  has  only 
to  be  true  to  itself  to  grasp  the  helm  and  guide  the  ship 
of  state  hereafter  in  her  course. 

"  This  brief  contrast,"  continued  he,  "  would  show  the 
men  who  hoped  to  win  power  by  ignoring  the  transcendent 
issue  of  our  age  in  America  how  impotent  would  be  the 
efforts  of  any  class  of  men  to  withdraw  the  mighty  ques 
tions  involved  in  the  existence  and  expansion  oF  slavery  on 
this  continent  from  the  consideration  of  the  people. 

"...  Now,  gentlemen,  I  say  to  you  frankly,  I  am  the 
last  man  to  object  to  going  into  power  (laughter),  and 
especially  to  going  into  power  over  the  present  dynasty 
that  is  fastened  upon  the  country.  But  I  am  the  last  man 
that  will  consent  to  go  into  power  by  ignoring  or  sacrifi 
cing  the  slavery  question.  If  my  voice  could  be  heard  by 
the  whole  country  to-night,  by  the  antislavery  men  of 
the  country  to-night  of  all  parties,  I  would  say  to  them, 
Resolve  it,  write  it  over  your  door-posts,  engrave  it  on  the 


SPEECHES. 

lids  of  your  Bibles,  proclaim  it  at  the  rising  of  the  sun 
and  the  going-down  of  the  same,  and  in  the  broad  light 
of  noon,  that  any  party  in  America,  be  that  party  Whig, 
Democratic,  or  American,  that  lifts  its  finger  to  arrest  the 
antislavery  movement,  to  repress  the  antislavery  senti 
ment,  or  proscribe  the  antislavery  men,  it  surely  sha'l 
begin  to  die  (loud  applause)  ;  it  would  deserve  to  die ;  it 
will  die  ;  and,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  I  shall  do  what  little 
I  can  to  make  it  die." 

In  an  address  on  the  "  Position  and  Duty  of  the  Ameri 
can  Party,"  delivered  at  Brattleborough,  Vt.,  on  the 
16th  of  the  same  month,  he  still  points  out  in  stirring 
words  the  only  course  by  which  it  can  escape  destruc 
tion. 

"  He  had,"  he  said,  "  no  sympathy  with  that  narrow, 
bigoted,  intolerant  spirit  that  would  make  war  upon  a  race 
of  men  because  they  happen  to  be  born  in  other  lands,  —  a 
dastardly  spirit  that  would  repel  from  our  shores  the  men 
who  sought  homes  here  under  our  free  institutions.  Such 
a  spirit  was  anti-American,  devilish :  he  loathed  it  from 
the  bottom  of  his  heart.  He  knew  there  were  men  who 
called  themselves  Americans  who  would  abolish  the  natu 
ralization  laws  altogether,  who  would  forever  deny  the 
right  of  suffrage  to  men  for  the  fault  of  being  born  out  of 
America.  He  had  no  sympathy  with  that  class  of  men 
whose  opinions  were  at  war  with  the  spirit  of  American 
institutions  and  the  laws  of  humanity.  Such  anti- Ameri 
can  sentiments  had  brought  dishonor  upon  the  American 
movement  ;  and,  unless  they  received  the  rebuke  of  the 
American  party,  they  would  defeat  the  real  reforms  con 
templated,  and  cover  the  movement  with  dishonor. 

"  He  regretted  to  say  that  there  were  some  members 
of  the  American  party  in  favor  of  excluding  by  constitu- 


LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

tional  amendments  all  adopted  citizens  from  office.  Kc 
deeply  deplored  the  action  of  the  legislature  of  Massa 
chusetts  in  proposing  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
embodying  this  dontrine.  He  hoped  the  gentlemen  who 
had  given  their  votes  for  this  proposition  —  a  proposition 
that  would  not  permit  Prof.  Agassiz,  one  of  the  first  living 
scientific  men  of  the  age,  to  fill,  under  State  appointment, 
an  office  even  of  a  scientific  character  —  would  see  their 
error,  and  retreat  at  once  from  a  position  which  justice, 
reason,  and  religion  condemned.  What  little  influence  he 
possessed  would  be  given  with  a  hearty  good-will  to  defeat 
the  proposition.  He  had  no  sympathy  whatever  with  the 
spirit  that  would  send  out  of  the  country  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  misfortune,  who,  by  the  storms  of  life,  were 
thrown  upon  us  for  support.  Whenever  the  authorities 
of  the  Old  World  sent  their  poor  here  to  be  relieved 
themselves  of  their  support,  he  would  promptly  redress 
the  imposition ;  such  an  abuse  ought  to  be  immediately 
corrected :  but  when  a  poor  man  lands  upon  our  soil, 
and  by  the  misfortunes  of  life  is  thrown  upon  the  public 
charity  for  support,  he  would  as  soon  send  a  poor  fleeing 
bondman  back  to  the  land 

4  Where  the  cant  of  democracy  dwells  on  the  lips 
Of  the  forgers  of  fetters,  and  wielders  of  whips,' 

as  to  banish  such  a  man  from  the  land  he  has  sought. 
There  is  a  kind  of  native  Americanism  far  more  alien  to 
America  than  are  the  adopted  sons  of  the  Old  World  it 
would  degrade  into  servile  races.  True  genuine  Ameri 
canism  rebukes  bigotry,  intolerance,  and  proscription ; 
reforms  abuses ;  adopts  a  wise,  humane,  and  Christian 
policy  towards  all  men,  —  a  policy  consistent  with  the  idea 
that  all  men  are  created  equal. 


SPEECHES.  137 

"  If  the  American  party  is  to  achieve  any  thing  for 
good,  it  must  adopt  a  wise  and  humane  policy  consisted 
with  our  democratic  ideas,  —  a  policy  which  will  reform 
existing  abuses,  and  guard  against  future  ones  ;  which  shall 
combine  in  one  harmonious  organization  moderate  and 
patriotic  men  who  love  freedom  and  hate  oppression. 

"  Upon  the  grand  and  overshadowing  question  of 
American  slavery  the  American  party  must  take  its  posi 
tion.  If  it  wishes  a  speedy  death  and  a  dishonored  grave, 
let  it  adopt  the  policy  of  neutrality  upon  that  question,  or 
the  policy  of  ignoring  that  question.  If  that  party  wishes 
to  live,  and  to  impress  its  policy  upon  the  nation,  it  must 
repudiate  the  sectional  policy  of  slavery,  and  stand  boldly 
upon  the  broad  and  national  basis  of  freedom.  It  must  ac 
cept  the  position  that '  freedom  is  national,  and  slavery  is  sec 
tional.'  It  must  stand  upon  the  national  idea  embodied  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  that  4  all  men  are  created 
equal,  and  have  an  inalienable  right  to  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness.'  It  must  accept  these  words  as 
embracing  the  great  central  national  idea  of  America, 
fidelity  to  which  is  national  in  New  England  and  in  South 
Carolina.  It  must  recognize  the  doctrine  that  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  was  made  '  to  secure  the 
blessing  of  liberty  ; '  that  Congress  has  no  right  to  make 
a  slave  or  allow  slavery  to  exist  outside  of  the  slave  States  ; 
and  that  the  Federal  Government  must  be  relieved  from 
all  connection  with  and  responsibility  for  slavery. 

"  In  their  own  good  time  the  Americans  of  Massa 
chusetts  have  spoken  for  themselves.  They  have  placed 
that  .old  Commonwealth  face  to  face  to  the  slave  oligarchy 
and  its  allies.  Upon  their  banner  they  have  written  in 
letters  of  living  light  the*  words,  'No  exclusion  from  the 

O         O 

public   schools  on  account  of  race  or  color;' 
12* 


138  LIFE  OF   HENRY    WILSON. 

commissioners  on  the  judicial  bench ; '  '  No  slave  States 
to  be  carved  out  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska ; '  '  The  repeal 
of  the  unconstitutional  Fugitive-slave  Act  of  1850  ; '  '  An 
Act  to  protect  Personal  Liberty.'  The  men  who  have 
inscribed  these  glowing  words  upon  their  banner  will  go 
into  the  conflicts  of  the  future  like  the  Zouaves  at  Inker- 
mann,  '  with  the  light  of  battle  on  their  faces ; '  and,  if 
defeat  comes,  they  will  fall  with  their  '  backs  to  the  field, 
and  their  feet  to  the  foe.'  ' 

When  Mr.  Wilson  saw  the  national  American  party 
hopelessly  committed  to  slavery,  he  abandoned  it.  In 
the  American  National  Council,  assembled  in  Philadelphia 
in  June,  1855,  he  manfully  held  his  ground,  and  nobly 
repelled  the  assaults  upon  freedom  and  the  State  he  repre 
sented.  "  When  Massachusetts,"  said  he  in  reply  to  an 
attack,  "pleads  to  any  arraignment  before  the  nation,  she 
will  demand  that  her  accusers  are  competent  to  draw  the 
bill." 

An  attempt  was  made,  for  sentiments  he  had  expressed, 
to  deprive  him  of  a  seat  in  the  council  ;  but  the  delegation 
from  his  State  stood  firmly  by  him,  and  he  was  admitted.  In 
the  exciting  debates  of  that  council,  which  sat  for  many  days, 
he  came  to  the  front  as  the  unterrified  champion  of  the 
friends  of  freedom,  and  defiantly  repelled  the  charges  made 
against  them.  To  a  delegate  from  Virginia,  who,  approach 
ing  with  a  pistol,  denounced  him  as  the  leader  of  the 
antislavery  party,  he  replied,  that  his  threats  had  no  terrors 
for  freemen ;  that  he  was  then  and  there  ready  to  meet 
argument  with  argument,  scorn  with  scorn,  and,  if  need 
be,  blow  with  blow  ;  for  God  had  given  him  an  arm  ready 
and  able  to  protect  his  head.  It  was  time  that  cham 
pions  of  slavery  in  the  South  should  ivnlizj  the  fact,  that 
the  past  was  theirs,  the  future  ours," 


SPEECHES.  139 

Here  was  the  fire  of  the  dauntless  Mirabeau  in  the 
French  National  Assembly  when  he  said,  "  Go  tell  your 
king  we  are  here  by  the  will  of  the  people  ;  and  nothincr 
but  the  point  of  the  bayonet  shall  expel  us." 

His  speech  on  the  12th  of  June  is  characterized  by 
masculine  vigor.  In  regard  to  the  proslavery  platform 
he  defiantly  declared,  "  The  adoption  of  this  platform 
commits  the  American  party  unconditionally  to  the  policy 
of  slavery,  to  the  iron  dominion  of  the  black  power.  I 
tell  you,  sir,  I  tell  this  convention,  that  we  cannot  stand 
upon  this  platform  in  a  single  free  State  in  the  North. 
The  people  of  the  North  will  repudiate  it,  spurn  it,  spit 
upon  it.  For  myself,  sir,  I  here  and  now  tell  you  to  your 
faces,  that  I  will  trample  with  disdain  on  your  platform. 
I  will  not  support  it.  I  will  support  no  man  that  stands 
upon  it.  Adopt  that  platform,  and  you  carry  against  you 
every  thing  that  is  pure  and  holy,  every  thing  that  has 
the  elements  of  permanency  in  it,  the  noblest  pulsations  of 
the  human  heart,  the  holiest  convictions  of  the  human 
soul,  the  profoundest  ideas  of  the  human  intellect,  and 
the  attributes  of  Almighty  God.  Your  party  will  be 
withered  and  consumed  by  the  blasting  breath  of  the 
people's  wrath.  There  is  an  old  Spanish  proverb  which 
says  that  '  the  feet  of  the  avenging  deities  are  shod  with 
wool.'  Softly  and  silently  these  avenging  deities  are  ad 
vancing  upon  you.  Yon  will  find  that  4  the  mills  of  God 
grind  slowly ; '  but  they  grind  to  powder. 

"  When  I  united  with  the  American  organization  in 
March,  1854,  in  its  hour  of  weakness,  I  told  the  men  with 
whom  I  acted  that  my  antislavery  opinions  were  the 
matured  convictions  of  years,  and  that  I  would  not  mod 
ify  or  qualify  my  opinions,  or  snppivss  my  sentiments,  for 
any  consideration  on  earth.  From  that  hour  to  this,  in 


140  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

public  and  in  private,  I  have  freely  uttered  my  antislavery 
sentiments,  and  labored  to  promote  the  antislavery  cause  • 
and  I  tell  you  now  that  I  will  continue  to  do  so.  You 
shall  not  proscribe  antislavery  principles,  measures,  or  men, 
without  receiving  from  me  the  most  determined  and  unre 
lenting  hostility.  It  is  a  painful  thing  to  differ  from  our 
associates  and  friends;  but,  when  duty  —  a  stern  sense  of 
duty  —  demands  it,  I  shall  do  so.  Reject  this  majority  plat 
form,  adopt  the  proposition  to  restore  freedom  to  Kansas 
and  Nebraska,  and  to  protect  the  actual  settlers  from 
violence  and  outrage,  simplify  your  rules,  make  an  open 
organization,  banish  all  bigotry  and  intolerance  from  your 
ranks,  place  your  movement  in  harmony  with  the  humane, 
progressive  spirit  of  the  age,  and  you  may  win  and  retain 
power,  and  elevate  and  improve  the  political  character 
of  the  country;  adopt  this  majority  platform,  commit 
the  American  movement  to  the  slave  perpetualists  and  the 
slave  propagandists,  and  you  will  go  down  before  the  burn 
ing  indignation  and  withering  scorn  of  American  free 
men."  These  words  had  the  flaming  spirit  of  James  Otis 
and  of  Patrick  Henry.  They  were  the  death-knell  of  the 
American  party.  On  the  adoption  of  the  platform,  Mr. 
Wilson  and  his  associates  uttered  their  protest  against  the 
proceedings  of  the  council,  and  formally  withdrew  from  the 
American  organization. 

One  of  Mr.  Wilson's  early  political  opponents  thus  ad 
dresses  him  on  the  manly  stand  he  took  in  the  conven 
tion  :  — 

N.  BROOKFIELD,  June  22,  1858. 

DEAR  SIB,  —  I  have  just  read  your  speech  at  Philadel 
phia.  You  had  a  splendid  opportunity  to  annihilate  the 
Northern  dough-faces  and  hurl  defiance  at  the  Southern 
slave  propagandists,  and  you  availed  yourself  of  it  fully  and 


MIS.  WALKER'S  LETTER.  141 

handsomely.  I  thank  you  for  what  you  have  clone  so 
bravely  and  well.  You  met  the  crisis  nobly,  and  have 
placed  yourself  at  the  head  of  the  political  antislavery 
movement :  that  is  a  settled  matter.  I  am  glad  you  had 
health  and  strength  and  courage  to  do  the  work  which  so 
many  Northern  men  have  shrunk  from  in  times  past. 

You  have  nothing  to  do  now  but  to  go  ahead.  The 
North  looks  to  you.  A  great  responsibility  rests  on  your 
shoulders ;  but  I  have  the  utmost  confidence  that  you  will 
meet  it,  and  can  assure  you  that  every  true  man  of  all 
parties  in  the  free  States  will  rally  around  the  standard  of 
freedom. 

I  have  no  advice  to  give :  you  need  none.  My  only 
object  is  to  thank  you  for  what  you  have  done,  and  assure 
you  of  my  confidence  in  the  future. 

Ever  and  truly  yours, 

A  MAS  A  WALKER. 
Hon.  HENRY  WILSON,  U.  S.  senator,  Natick,  Mass. 

Referring  to  Mr.  Wilson's  bold  and  independent  course, 
"The  New-York  Tribune"  truly  said,  "The  anteced 
ents  of  Mr.  Wilson  naturally  made  him  the  particular 
object  of  hostility  to  the  slave-drivers  in  the  convention  ; 
and  one  of  the  earliest  displays  after  the  body  was  organ 
ized  was  a  grossly  personal  attack  upon  him  by  a  delegate 
from  Virginia.  But  the  assailants  had  now  met  with  an 
antagonist  who  was  not  to  be  cowed  or  silenced  ;  and  the 
response  they  received  was  of  a  character  to  induce  them 
not  to  repeat  their  experiment.  We  have  the  unanimous 
testimony  of  many  Northern  members  to  the  signal  gal 
lantry  and  effect  of  Mr.  Wilson's  bearing,  and  to  the  bold, 
virile,  and  telling  eloquence  of  his  speeches.  While  all 
have  done  so  well  in  bringing  about  results  so  gratifying,  it 


142  LIFE   OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

may  be  invidious  to  particularize ;  but  a  lew  names  among 
the  Northern  members,  who  were  devoted  from  the  start 
to  the  work  of  creating  a  unity  and  a  strength  of  North 
ern  backbone,  should  justly  be  exposed  to  the  public 
appreciation  and  honor  that  they  deserve.  First  stands 
Henry  Wilson  of  Massachusetts,  pre-eminent  as  the  leader 
in  the  whole  movement.  He  was  handsomely  sustained 
by  all  his  associates ;  and  the  numerous  insidious  efforts 
of  the  enemy  to  separate  them  from  him  only  attached 
them,  the  more  closely  to  his  side.  He  has  the  highest 
honor  in  this  contest,  exhibited  the  greatest  political  ability, 
and  broke  down  many  strong  prejudices  against  him>  both 
among  Massachusetts  men  who  were  witnesses  to  his  con 
duct,  and  among  the  delegates  of  the  other  States  North 
and  South.  No  man  went  into  that  council  with  more 
elements  of  distrust  and  opposition  combined  against  him  : 
no  one  goes  out  of  it  with  such  an  enviable  fame,  or  such 
an  aggregation  to  his  honor.  He  is  worthy  of  Massachu 
setts,  and  worthy  to  lead  the  new  movement  of  the  people 
of  that  State  which  the  result  here  so  fitly  inaugurates." 

Returning  home  from  this  council,  TMr.  Wilson  spent 
the  summer  and  autumn  in  strenuous  efforts  to  effect  a 
fusion  of  the  parties  into  one  grand  organization,  which 
might  bear  the  standard  of  progress  and  freedom,  and  con 
trol  the  councils  of  the  nation.  He  travelled  thousands 
of  miles,  visited  thirteen  different  States,  conversed  with 
many  leading  men,  and  addressed  immense  audiences  in 
towns  and  cities  East  and  West. 

On  the  7th  of  August  he  made  a  strong  speech  in  the 
State  Council  of  the  American  party,  at  Springfield,  "  On 
the  Necessity  of  the  Fusion  of  Parties,"  in  which  he 
urged  the  members  to  unite  with  other  organizations  in 
forming  a  great  Republican  party,  with  strength  to  meet 
the  important  issues  of  the  day. 


SPEECH  AT  SPRINGFIELD.  143 

"The  gathering  hosts  of  Northern  freemen  of  every 
party,"  said  he,  u  are  banding  together  to  resist  the 
aggressive  policy  of  the  black  power.  Freedom,  patriot 
ism,  and  humanity  demand  the  union  of  the  freemen  of 
the  republic  for  the  sake  of  liberty  now  perilled.  Reli 
gion  sanctions  and  blesses  it.  How  and  where  stands 
Massachusetts?  Shall  she  range  herself  in  the  line, 
front  to  the  black  power,  with  her  sister  States?  or  shall 
she  maintain  the  fatal  position  of  isolation  ?  Here  and 
now,  we,  the  chosen  representatives  of  the  American 
party  of  this  Commonwealth,  are  to  meet  that  issue,  to 
solve  that  problem. 

"  The  American  party  of  Massachusetts,  dashing  other 
organizations  into  powerless  fragments,  had  grasped  the 
reins  of  power,  placed  an  unbroken  delegation  in  Con 
gress  pledged  to  the  policy  of  freedom,  ranged  this  ancient 
Commonwealth  front  to  front  with  the  slave-power,  and 
written  with  the  iron  pen  of  history  upon  her  statutes 
declarations  of  principles,  and  pledges  of  acts,  hostile  to 
the  aggressive  policy  of  the  slaveholding  power.  When 
the  black  power  of  the  imperious  South,  aided  by  the 
servile  power  of  the '  faltering  North,  imposed  upon  the 
national  American  organization  its  principles,  measures, 
and  policy,  the  representatives  of  the  American  party  of 
this  Commonwealth  spurned  the  unhallowed  decrees,  and 
turned  their  backs  forever  upon  that  prostituted  organi 
zation  ;  and  their  action  received  the  approving  sanction 
of  this  State  Council  by  a  vote  approaching  unanimity. 
The  American  party,  as  a  national  organization,  is  broken, 
and  shivered  to  atoms.  By  its  own  act  the  American 
party  of  Massachusetts  has  severed  itself  from  all  con 
nection  with  that  product  of  Southern  domination  and 
Northern  submission. 


144  LIFE  OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

"  The  American  party  of  Massachusetts  has,  during  its 
brief  existence,  uttered  true  words  and  performed  noble 
deeds  for  freedom.  The  past,  at  least,  is  secure.  What 
ever  may  have  been  its  errors  of  omission  or  commission, 
the  slave  and  the  slave's  friends  will  never  reproach  it. 
Holding  as  it  does  the  reins  of  power,  it  has  now  a  glo 
rious  opportunity  to  give  to  the  country  the  magnanimous 
example  of  a  great  and  dominant  party  in  the  full  pos 
session  of  consummated  power,  freely  yielding  up  that 
power  for  the  holy  cause  of  freedom  to  the  equal  posses 
sion  of  other  parties  who  are  willing  to  co-operate  with  it 
upon  a  common  platform.  Here  and  now,  we,  its  repre 
sentatives,  are  to  show  by  our  acts  whether  we  can  rise 
above  the  demands  of  partisan  policy  to  the  full  compre 
hension  of  the  condition  of  public  affairs,  to  the  full 
realization  of  the  obligations  which  fidelity  to  freedom 
now  imposes  upon  us. 

"  If  the  representatives  of  the  American  party  reject 
this  proposition  for  fusion,  I  shall  go  home  once  more 
with  a  sad  heart.  But  I  shall  not  go  home  to  sulk  in 
my  tent ;  to  rail  and  fret  at  the  folly  of  men  :  I  shall 
go  home,  sir,  with  a  resolved  spirit  and  iron  will,  deter 
mined  to  hope  on  and  to  struggle  on  until  I  see  the  lovers 
of  universal  and  impartial  freedom  banded  together  in 
one  organization,  moved  by  one  impulse.  For  seven 
years  I  have  labored  to  break  up  old  organizations  and 
to  make  new  combinations,  all  tending  to  the  organiza 
tion  of  that  great  party  of  the  future  which  is  to  relieve 
the  government  from  the  iron  dominion  of  the  black 
power. 

"  Sir,  gentlemen  may  defeat  this  proposed  fusion  here 
to-day  ;  but  they  cannot  control  the  action  of  the  people. 
A  fusion  movement  will  be  made,  under  the  lead  of  gen- 


THE  AMERICAN  JPABTY.  145 

tlemen  of  the  Whig,  Democratic,  and  Free-soil  parties,  of 
talents  and  character.  The  movement  will  be  in  har 
mony  with  the  people's  movements  in  the  North.  Sir, 
such  a  movement  will  put  a  majority  of  the  men  who 
voted  with  you  last  autumn  in  a  false  position  before  the 
country,  or  drive  them  from  your  ranks.  I  cannot  speak 
for  others :  but  I  tell  you  frankly  that  I  cannot  be  placed 
in  a  false  position ;  I  cannot,  even  for  one  moment,  consent 
to  stand  arrayed  against  the  hosts  of  freedom  now  prepar 
ing  for  the  contest  of  1856.  I  tell  you  frankly,  that,  when 
ever  I  see  a  formation  in  position  to  strike  effective  blows 
for  freedom,  I  shall  be  with  it  in  the  conflict ;  whenever  I 
see  an  organization  in  position  antagonistic  to  freedom, 
my  arm  shall  aid  in  smiting  it  down." 

On  the  proposed  amendment  of  the  Constitution,  re 
quiring  foreigners  to  reside  here  twenty-one  years  before 
being  allowed  to  vote,  he  said, — 

"  Sir,  the  American  movement  is  not  based  upon  big 
otry,  intolerance,  or  proscription.  If  there  is  any  thing 
of  bigotry,  intolerance,  or  proscription,  in  the  American 
movement,  if  there  is  any  disposition  to  oppress  or 
degrade  the  Briton,  the  Scot,  the  Celt,  the  German,  or 
any  one  of  another  clime  or  race,  or  to  deny  to  them  the 
fullest  protection  of  just  and  equal  laws,  it  is  time  such 
criminal  fanaticism  was  sternly  rebuked  by  the  intelligent 
patriotism  of  the  state  and  country.  I  deeply  deplore, 
sir,  the  adoption  of  the  twenty-one-years  amendment. 
It  will  weaken  the  American  movement  at  home  and  in 
other  States,  especially  in  the  West,  and  tend  to  defeat 
any  modification  whatever  of  the  naturalization  laws.  I 
warn  gentlemen  who  desire  the  correction  of  the  evils 
growing  out  of  the  abuses  of  the  naturalization  laws 
against  the  adoption  of  extreme  opinions.  I  tell  you, 

13 


146  LIFE  OF  HEKBY  WILSON. 

gentlemen  of  the  council,  that  this  intense  nativism  kills ; 
yes,  sir,  it  kills,  and  is  killing,  us ;  and,  unless  it  is 
speedily  abandoned,  will  defeat  all  the  needed  reforms 
the  movement  was  inaugurated  to  secure,  and  overwhelm 
us  all  in  dishonor.  Every  attempt,  by  whomsoever  made, 
to  interpolate  with  the  American  movement  any  thing  in 
consistent  with  the  theory  of  our  democratic  institutions, 
any  thing  inconsistent  with  the  idea  that '  all  men  are 
created  equal,'  any  thing  contrary  to  the  command  of 
God's  holy  Word,  that  '  the  stranger  that  dwelleth  with 
you  shall  be  unto  you  as  one  born  among  you,  and  thou 
shalt  love  him  as  thyself/  is  doing  that  which  will 
baffle  the  wise  policy  which  strives  to  reform  existing 
evHs  and  to  guard  against  future  abuses." 

With  such  strong,  liberal,  and  statesman-like  views, 
ever  holding  the  question  of  slavery  paramount,  he 
labored  to  enlighten  public  sentiment,  and  prepare  it  for 
the  day  of  universal  freedom.  Towards  the  foreigner  he 
entertained  fraternal  feelings ;  and  his  only  aim  in  going 
into  the  American  party  was  -to  turn  its  power  to  the 
extinction  of  a  system  which  was  coming  rapidly  to  under 
mine  the  liberties  of  the  Northern  people. 

"  I  loathe,"  said  he  in  a  speech  at  Indianapolis  in  July, 
1855, "  the  idea  of  opposition  to  foreigners  as  foreigners ;  " 
and  in  a  letter  on  the  two-years  amendment,  written  to 
Mr.  Gillette  in  1859,  he  says,  — 

"  I  have  ever  declared  that  I  would  support  no  measure, 
even  to  reform  these  abuses,  which  would  in  the  slightest 
degrade  any  man,  or  class  of  men ;  that  I  would  give  to 
every  human  being  equal  rights,  —  the  same  equality  I 
would  claim  for  myself  or  my  own  son. 

"  No  power  on  earth  could  force  me  to  vote  for  any 
proposition  which  fair-minded  and  intelligent  men  felt  to 


LETTER  FROM  MR.   WILSON.  147 

be  unequal  or  personally  degrading.  Never  have  I  sup 
ported  any  measure  inconsistent  with  the  equal  rights  of 
man  ;  but,  if  I  had  ever  unintentionally  made  such  a  mis 
take,  I  have  nothing  of  that  pride  of  consistency  in  regard 
to  mere  measures  which  would  induce  me  to  continue  in 
the  wrong  because  I  had  been  wrong  once.  Better  be 
right  in  the  lights  of  to-day  than  be  consistent  with  the 
errors  of  yesterday." 

The  following  characteristic  letter  clearly  states  his  posi 
tion  on  this  question :  — 

NATICK,  MASS.,  July  29,  1872. 
J.  O.  CULVER,  Esq.,  State  Journal,  Madison,  Wisconsin. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  The  mail  has  just  brought  me  your 
note,  and  extracts  clipped  from  newspapers,  purporting  to 
be  speeches  made  by  me.  In  answer  to  your  queries,  I 
have  to  say,  that  they,  and  all  thoughts  and  words  of  like 
character  which  have  appeared  in  the  papers,  are  pure  in 
ventions,  wicked  forgeries,  and  absolute  falsehoods.  Never 
have  I  thought,  spoken,  or  written  those  words,  nor 
any  thing  resembling  those  words,  nor  any  thing  that 
the  most  malignant  sophistry  could  torture  into  those 
words.  I  could  not  have  done  so ;  for  they  are  abhor 
rent  to  every  conviction  of  my  judgment,  every  throb 
of  my  heart,  every  aspiration  of  my  soul.  Born  in 
extreme  poverty,  having  endured  the  hard  lot  the  sons  of 
poverty  are  too  often  forced  to  endure,  I  came  to  man 
hood  passionately  devoted  to  the  creed  of  human  equality. 
All  my  life  I  have  cherished  as  a  bright  hope,  and  avowed 
as  a  living  faith,  the  doctrine,  that  all  men,  without  distinc 
tion  of  color,  race,  or  nationality,  should  have  complete 
liberty  and  exact  equality,  —  all  the  rights  I  asked  for  my 
self.  My  thoughts,  my  words,  my  pen,  my  votes,  have 
been  consecrated  for  more  than  thirty-six  years  to  human 


148  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

rights.  In  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  Massachu 
setts,  in  eight  years'  service  in  her  legislature,  in  more 
than  seventeen  years'  service  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  in  thirteen  hundred  public  addresses,  in  the  press, 
in  speeches  and  writings  that  would  fill  many  columns  and 
make  thousands  of  pages,  I  have  iterated  and  reiterated 
the  doctrines  of  equal  rights  for  all  conditions  of  men.  Is 
it  not,  my  dear  sir,  passing  strange,  then,  that  partisanship 
should  so  blind  men  to  a  sense  of  truth,  justice,  and  fair 
play,  that  they  will  forge  and  print  abhorrent  sentiments 
insulting  to  God  and  man,  and  charge  them  upon  one 
whose  life  has  been  given  to  the  cause  of  equal  rights  at 
home,  and  whose  profound  sympathies  were  ever  given  to 
the  friends  of  liberty  of  all  races  and  nationalities  abroad  ? 
Yours  truly, 

HENEY  WILSON. 


CHAPTER  X. 

AFFAIRS    IN    KAKSAS.  -  ASSAULT    ON    MR.    SUMNER.  -  RE 

PLY   TO   MR.    BUTLER,    AND   RESULT.  -  NO   SUP 

PLIES    FOR   SUBJUGATING    KANSAS. 


Troubles  in  Kansas.  —  Slave  and  Free  Labor  Antagonistic.  —  Reply  to  Mr.. 
Toucey.  —  Mr.  Douglas.  —  Assault  on  Mr.  Sumner.  —  Aided  by  Mr.  Wilson. 

—  Scene  in  the  Senate-Chamber.  —  Challenge  of  P.  S.  Brooks.  —  Reply.  — 
How  received.  —Letter  of  Mr.  Harte.  —  Reply  to  Mr.  Butler  of  South  Caro 
lina.  —  Letter  from  Whittier.  —  Labors  in  the  Senate.  —  Views  on  Slavery. 

—  Speech  July  9.  —  Musket-Ball.  —  Speech  against  sending  Military  Sup 
plies  to  subjugate  Freemen  in  Kansas. 


collisions  between  the  free  people  and  the  slave- 
-•-  holders  in  Kansas,  consequent  on  the  passage  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  Act  in  May,  1854,  were  becoming  more 
and  more  violent  and  sanguinary.  On  that  broad  and  dis 
tant  field  the  defenders  of  slavery  were  committing  the 
most  barbarous  atrocities  upon  the  settlers  from  the  North,  . 
and  substantiating  practically  the  truth,  that  free  and  slave 
labor  cannot  harmoniously  co-exist  in  the  same  State. 
Antagonist  in  their  nature,  the  success  of  one  is  the  de 
struction  of  the  other.  The  outrages  of  the  border  ruffians, 
who  were  murdering  unoffending  men  and  carrying  the 
polls  by  force  for  slavery,  roused  the  Northern  people  to 
great  excitement  ;  and  they  demanded  speedy  and  decisive 
action  on  the  part  of  the  national  executive.  Instead  of 
extending  protection  to  the  injured  party,  the  adminis* 
13*  m- 


150  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

tration  fanned  the  fire   of  the  aggressors.     Mr.  Wilson 
now  came  grandly  up  to  the  occasion. 

A  message  from  the  president  to  the  Senate,  enclosing 
an  iniquitous  report  of  the  secretary  of  state  on  the  exist 
ing  state  of  affairs  in  Kansas,  drew  forth  from  him  in  the 
Senate,  Feb.  18  and  19,  1856,  one  of  the  boldest  defences 
of  the  outraged  people,  one  of  the  sternest  rebukes  of 
border  violence,  which  had  yet  been  made.  "  Mr.  Presi 
dent,"  said  he,  "  the  senator  from  Connecticut  (Mr. 
Toucey)  closes  his  speech  with  the  assumption  that  there 
may  be  those  in  the  country  who  do  not  wish  the  presi 
dent  to  preserve  order ;  and  he  is  pleased  to  say,  that,  if 
the  executive  does  so,  their  '  vocation '  will  be  gone. 
Let  me  say  to  the  senator  from  Connecticut,  that  the 
4  vocation'  of  those  to  whom  he  alludes  is  not  fawning, 
abject  servility  to  power.  No,  sir :  they  do  not 

1  Bend  to  power,  and  lap  its  milk.' 

"  If  the  senator  from  Connecticut  alludes  to  those  who 
have  opposed  the  uncalled-for  and  wanton  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  prohibition  ;  if  he  alludes  to  those  who  condemn 
the  policy  of  the  administration  in  Kansas  ;  if  he  intends 
to  charge  the  intelligent,  patriotic  men  who  sympathize 
with  the  wronged  and  outraged  people  of  Kansas,  bravely 
struggling  to  preserve  their  firesides  and  altars,  their  prop 
erty  and  lives,  against  the  armed  aggressions  of  lawless 
invasions  from  Missouri,  with  a  disposition  to  violate  or 
resist  the  laws  of  the  country,  or  to  cherish  sectional  ani 
mosity  and  strife,  —  he  makes  a  charge  unsupported  by  even 
the  shadow  of  truth ;  and  here  and  now,  to  his  face,  and 
before  the  Senate  and  the  country,  I  pronounce  the  charge 
utterly  unfounded.  If  he  intends  to  insinuate  a  charge  of 
that  character  against  me,  I  promptly  meet  it ;  and  before 
the  Senate  I  brand  it  as  it  deserves. 


.  AFFAIKS  IN  KANSAS.  151 

"  The  senator  from  Connecticut,  with  an  air  of  confident 
assurance,  calls  for  facts.  Evidently  possessed  with  the 
vast  knowledge  embodied  in  these  documents  sent  here  by 
the  executive,  the  senator  assumes  the  air  and  tone  of  one 
entitled  to  speak  by  authority  ;  and  he  invites  us  to  deal  in 
facts.  Sir,  he  shall  have  facts  ;  for  it  so  happens  that  the 
friends  of  those  who  are  struggling  in  Kansas  to  protect 
their  lives,  their  property,  their  all,  against  unauthorized 
power  and  lawless  violence,  know  something  of  the  facts 
which  have  transpired  there.  All  knowledge,  sir,  of  affairs 
in  Kansas,  is  not  in  the  keeping  of  the  executive  and  his- 
senator  from  Connecticut.  The  tree  of  knowledge,  sir,, 
was  not  planted  in  the  executive  garden  ;  and  I  some^ 
times  think,  if  it  had  been,  its  forbidden  fruit  would  have 
been  more  secure  than  were  the  fruits  of  that  tree  plucked 
by  our  first  parents. 

"  The  senator  from  Connecticut  commends  us  to  the 
consideration  of  this  correspondence  ;  and  the  senator 
from  California  (Mr.  Weller)  asks  us  to  print  ten  thou 
sand  extra  copies  of  it  to  be  scattered  broadcast  over  the 
land.  I  now  say  —  and  I  can  establish  what  I  say  before 
any  committee  of  investigation,  so  that  no  -man  can 
question  the  declaration  —  that  this  correspondence 
utterly  and  totally  misstates  and  misrepresents  the  state 
of  affairs  in  Kansas.  These  documents,  sir,  are  made  up» 
of  telegraphic  despatches,  of  letters,  of  statements,  of 
orders,  written  by  Gov.  Shannon  and  others,  on  the  rumors 
of  the  hour,  in  a  large  territory,  at  a  time  when,  the; 
people  were  deeply  agitated  by  all  sorts  of  reports  that  flew 
over  the  land  in  rapid  succession.  We  are  called  upon  now 
to  publish  these  rumors,  —  rumors  that  turned  out  to  be 
exaggerated  or  false.  —  rumors  recognized  and  admitted 
to  be  false  by  the  governor  of  the  Territory  in  his  con- 


152  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

versation  and  in  his  treaty  with  the  citizens  of  Lawrence. 
Yes,  sir,  the  Senate  is  now  called  upon  to  print  and  send 
over  the  country,  as  official  documents,  these  stupendous 
misrepresentations  of  facts.  They  will  carry  a  gigantic 
falsehood  to  the  American  people.  He  who  reads  only 
these  documents  has  no  accurate  knowledge,  no  true 
conception,  of  the  actual  condition  of  affairs  in  Kansas  at 
the  time  covered  by  them. 

"The  year  1854  opened  upon  a  vast  territory  lying 
in  the  heart  of  the  continent,  extending  from  thirty-six 
degrees  thirty  minutes  on  the  south  to  the  possessions 
of  the  British  queen  on  the  north  ;  from  the  borders  of 
Missiouri,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota,  on  the  east,  to  the  sum 
mits  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  west.  Over  that 
territory,  larger  than  the  empire  of  Napoleon,  when,  at 
the  head  of  the  grand  army,  he  gazed  upon  that '  ocean 
of  flame '  that  wrapped  the  minarets,  turrets,  and  towers 
of  the  ancient  capital  of  the  czars,  the  republic,  on  the 
6th  of  March,  1820,  engraved  in  letters  of  living  light 
the  sacred  words,  '  Slavery  shall  be  and  is  forever  pro 
hibited.'  Slavery,  with  hungry  gaze,  glared  upon  the 
forest  and  prairie,  hill  and  mountain,  lake  and  river,  of 
that  magnificent  region  it  was  forever  forbidden  to  enter. 
Fixing  its  glittering  eye  upon  that  paradise,  consecrated 
by  the  nation  to  freedom  and  free  institutions  for  all,  hal 
lowed  forever  to  free  men  and  free  labor,  the  slave-power, 
in  the  person  of  the  late  president  of  the  Senate,  the  soul 
of  these  border  aggressions,  demanded  that  this  heritage 
of  free  labor  should  be  opened  to  the  withering  foot 
steps  of  the  bondman.  Sir,  with  hot  haste  you  grasped 
this  domain  of  freedom,  and  flung  it  to  the  slave  propa 
ganda.  Your  administration,  in  answer  to  the  stern 
protest  of  the  free  laboring-men  of  the  country,  whose 


AFFAIRS  IN  KANSAS.  153 

heritage  it  was,  mocked  them  with  the  delusive  promise 
that  the  actual  settlers  were  to  shape,  mould,  and  fashion 
the  institutions  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  Two  years 
have  passed,  and  your  «  squatter  sovereignty'  is  proved  a 
delusion  and  a  cheat.  Laws  more  inhuman  than  the 
code  of  Draco,  forced  upon  the  actual  settlers  of  Kansas 
by  armed  invading  hosts  from  Missouri,  are  now  to  be 
enforced  by  United-States  dragoons.  The  Constitution, 
framed  by  a  convention  of  the  people,  is  spurned  from 
the  halls  of  Congress  ;  the  convention  that  formed  it  is 
pronounced  l  spurious '  by  the  senator  from  Connecticut ; 
and  the  people  who  ratified  it  are  branded  as  traitors  by 
the  administration  and  its  subalterns. 

"  By  the  theory  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act,  Mr.  Pres 
ident,  the  actual  settlers  were  to  decide  the  transcendent 
question,  whether  freedom  should  bless,  or  slavery  curse, 
the  virgin  soil  of  those  vast  Territories  lying  in  the  central 
regions  of  the  continent.  The  sons  of  the  free  States, 
of  Puritan  New  England,  of  the  great  central  States,  and 
of  the  North-west,  —  men  who  call  no  man  master,  and 
who  wish  to  make  no  man  a  slave,  —  were  invited  to  plant 
upon  the  soil  of  Kansas  those  institutions  that  have 
blessed,  beautified,  and  adorned  the  homes  of  their 
childhood.  The  sons  of  the  South  —  from  regions  once 
teeming  with  the  rich  fruits  of  fields  now  blasted, 
blighted,  and  withered  by  the  sweat  of  untutored  and 
unrewarded  toil  —  were  invited  to  plant,  if  they  could, 
the  institutions  that  had  dishonored  labor  in  their  own 
native  States  upon  the  unbroken  soil  of  Kansas.  Sir, 
the  people  of  the  North  and  the  people  of  the  South  had 
a  legal  and  moral  right  to  go  there  when  they  pleased, 
how  they  pleased,  and  with  whom  they  pleased ;  in  com 
panies,  or  in  single  families ;  under  their  own  direction, 


154  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

or  under  the  auspices  of  emigrant-aid  societies  in  the 
North  or  the  South. 

"  Sir,  the  honorable  senator  from  Missouri  (Mr. 
Geyer),  in  his  remarks  the  other  day  upon  the  resolu 
tion  of  inquiry  submitted  by  me,  made  the  extraordinary 
declaration,  that  the  i  disorders '  which  he  admits  have 
existed  on  the  borders  '  are  to  be  attributed  to  an  extraor 
dinary  organization,  called  an  'Emigrant-aid  Society,' — • 
the  first  attempt  in  the  history  of  this  country  to  take 
possession  of  an  organized  Territory,  and  exclude  from 
it  the  inhabitants  of  other  portions  of  the  Union.'  I  am 
amazed  that  the  senator  from  Missouri  should  make 
such  a  declaration  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate.  When 
and  how  did  the  Emigrant-aid  Society  '  attempt  to  take 
possession  of  an  organized  Territory,  and  to  exclude 
from  it  the  inhabitants  of  other  portions  of  the  Union '  ? 
Will  the  senator  tell  us  when  that '  attempt '  was  made  ? 
Will  he  tell  us  where  it  was  made  ?  Will  he  tell  us 
how  it  was  made  ?  I  challenge  the  senator  to  give 
us  one  single  fact  to  sustain  the  declaration  he  has  so 
unjustly  made  against  men  of  stainless  purity.  The 
senator  avows  that  men  from  his  State  '  have  passed  over 
the  borders ; '  but  they  have  done  so,  he  tells  us,  '  to 
protect  the  ballot-box  from  the  attempt  of  armed  colo 
nists  to  control  the  elections  there.'  When  and  how  were 
the  ballot-boxes  assailed  by  '  armed  colonists  '  from  the 
North  ?  I  call  upon  the  senator  from  Missouri,  I  chal 
lenge  any  senator,  to  furnish  one  fact,  one  single  authen 
ticated  fact,  to  sustain  this  assumption, 

"  Sir,  the  Emigrant-aid  Society  of  New  England  has 
violated  no  law,  human  or  divine.  Standing  here 
before  the  Senate  and  the  country,  I  challenge  the  sen 
ator  from  Missouri,  or  any  other  senator,  to  furnish  to 


AFFAIRS  IN  KANSAS.  155 

the  Senate  one  fact,  one  authenticated  fact,  to  show  that 
the  Emigrant-aid  Society  has  performed  any  illegal  act, 
any  act  inconsistent  with  the  obligations  of  patriotism, 
morality,  or  religion.  The  President  of  the  United 
States  has  arraigned  before  the  country  these  emigrant- 
aid  societies ;  the  organs  of  the  administration  have 
assailed  them ;  and  now  the  senator  from  Missouri  here, 
on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  renews  the  assault.  Sir, 
I  defy  any  supporter  of  the  administration,  any  apolo 
gist  of  Atchison,  Stringfellow,  and  their  followers,  to 
give  us  one  act  of  the  directors  of  the  New-England 
Emigrant-aid  Society  hostile  to  law,  order,  and  peace.  I 
know  most  of  these  gentlemen  thus  wantonly  assailed; 
and  I  know  them  to  be  law-abiding,  order  -  loving, 
conservative  men.  I  defy  the  senator  from  Missouri, 
the  senator  from  Connecticut,  or  the  chief  magistrate 
at  the  other  end  of  the  avenue,  to  show,  here  or  else 
where,  that  the  Emigrant-aid  Society  ever  violated  a  law 
of  this  country,  or  performed  an  act  which  could  not 
receive  the  sanction  of  the  laws  of  God  and  man.  They 
have  sent  no  paupers  or  criminals  to  Kansas :  they 
have  simply  organized  a  system  by  which  persons  wish 
ing  to  go  to  Kansas  may  go  in  small  companies  ;  and  by 
going  together,  and  starting  at  a  particular  time  and 
place,  may  have  the  cost  of  their  fare  reduced  about 
thirty-three  per  cent.  This  company  has  built  a  hotel 
in  Kansas  ;  has  sent  some  saw-mills  there  ;  has  aided  in 
establishing  schools  and  churches.  That  is  the  extent  of 
offence,  —  no  more,  no  less. 

"  Mr.  President,  on  the  29th  of  July,  1854,  within 
sixty  days  after  the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act, 
a  meeting  was  called  at  Weston,  Mo.,  by  the  '  Platte- 
county  Self-  defensive  Association. '  Resolutions  were 


156  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

adopted,  declaring  that  the  association,  whenever  called 
upon  by  any  of  the  citizens  of  Kansas  Territory,  will 
hold  itself  in  readiness  to  assist  in  removing  any  and  all 
emigrants  who  go  there  under  the  auspices  of  the  North 
ern  emigration-aid  societies. 

"  Before  the  feet  of  the  first  emigrants  who  went  there 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Emigrant-aid  Society  pressed 
the  soil  of  Kansas,  this  '  Platte-county  Self-defensive  Asso 
ciation,'  under  the  guidance  of  B.  F.  Stringfellow,  pro 
claimed  to  the  world  its  readiness  to  cross  into  Kansas  and 
remove  actual  settlers  from  their  new  homes.  Under  the 
lead  of  this  lawless  association  other  meetings  were  held 
in  Western  Missouri,  and  resolutions  adopted  in  favor  of 
carrying  slavery  into  Kansas,  and  in  denunciation  of 
emigrants  from  the  free  States  who  should  go  there  under 
the  auspices  of  the  emigrant-aid  societies. 

"  On  the  9th  of  August,  more  than  two  months  after  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  Act  was  passed,  a  few  persons  went  into 
that  Territory  from  the  East.  They  went  there  under  the 
auspices  of  that  society  referred  to  the  other  day  so  unjustly 
by  the  senator  from  Missouri.  Early  in  the  autumn  of 
1854  the  Missouri  guardians  of  Kansas  crossed  over  into 
the  Territory,  and,  by  force  of  arms,  endeavored  to  drive 
from  their  homes  the  few  persons  who  had  begun  the  little 
settlement  at  Lawrence.  But  these  Platte-county-Associ- 
ation  heroes  found  a  little  band  of  about  thirty  New- 
England  men,  under  the  lead  of  Charles  Robinson,  —  the 
Miles  Standish  of  Kansas,  —  ready  to  meet  the  issue  with 
powder  and  ball ;  and  they  retreated  to  their  homes,  pre 
ferring  to  live  to  fight  another  day. 

"  The  senator  from  Connecticut  referred  with  an  air  of 
triumph  to  the  election  which  took  place  on  the  twenty-ninth 
day  of  November,  1854.  On  that  day  Mr.  Whitfield  was 


AFFAIRS  IN  KANSAS.  157 

elected  —  and  triumphantly  elected  —  a  delegate  from  that 
Territory.  No  one  ever  questioned  the  fact  that  he  had 
a  majority  of  the  legal  voters  of  the  Territory  on  that  day  ; 
but,  in  addition  to  that  fact,  men  familiar  with  the  Terri 
tory  declare  that  he  received  the  votes  of  more  than  a 
thousand  inhabitants  of  Missouri  who  crossed  the  line  and 
voted  on  that  occasion. 

"  I  hold  in  my  hand,  sir,  a  paper  drawn  up  and  signed  by 
Gen.  Pomeroy,  —  a  gentleman  of  intelligence,  of  personal 
honor,  whose  veracity  no  man  who  knows  him  can  ever 
question.  From  this  memorial,  addressed  to  Congress,  I 
quote  the  following  words  concerning  the  election  of  the 
29th  of  November,  1854 :  — 

"  '  The  first  ballot-box  that  was  opened  upon  our  virgin 
soil  was  closed  to  us  by  overpowering  numbers  and  impend 
ing  force.  So  bold  and  reckless  were  our  invaders,  that  they 
cared  not  to  conceal  their  attack.  They  came  upon  us, 
not  in  the  guise  of  voters  to  steal  away  our  franchise,  but 
boldly  and  openly,  to  snatch  it  with  a  strong  hand.  They 
came  directly  from  their  own  homes,  and  in  compact  and 
organized  bands,  with  arms  in  hand,  and  provisions  for  the 
expedition,  marched  to  our  polls ;  and,  when  their  work  was 
done,  returned  whence  they  came.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
enter  into  the  details  :  it  is  enough  to  say,  that  in  three 
districts,  in  which  by  the  most  irrefragable  evidence  there 
were  not  a  hundred  and  fifty  voters,  —  most  of  whom 
refused  to  participate  in  the  mockery  of  the  elective 
franchise,  —  these  invaders  polled  over  a  thousand  votes.' 

"  An  examination  of  details  will  reveal  the  extent  of  this 
fraud.  In  the  seventh  election  district  of  Kansas,  six 
hundred  and  four  votes  were  cast  on  the  29th  of  Novem 
ber,  1854  :  of  these  Whitfield  received  five  hundred  and 
ninety-seven,  —  all  but  seven.  Three  months  afterwards 

14 


158  LIFE  OF  HENKY  WILSON. 

the  census  was  taken,  and  there  were  only  fifty-three 
voters  in  the  seventh  district.  Who  went  there  to  vote  ? 
Organized,  armed,  disciplined  men  from  the  State  of 
Missouri ;  and  all  the  votes  but  seven  in  that  district 
were  given  for  Mr.  Whitfield.  Does  the  senator  from 
Missouri  call  that  i  protecting  the  ballot-box  against 
armed  colonists '  ?  In  the  eleventh  district,  on  the  same 
day,  two  hundred  and  thirty-seven  votes  were  given.  In 
February  following,  when  the  census  was  taken,  there 
were  but  twenty-four  voters  in  that  district,  which,  three 
months  before,  had  given  Whitfield  two  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  votes,  —  all  but  three  of  the  whole  number 
cast ;  and,  within  thirty  days  after  the  census  was  taken, 
three  hundred  and  twenty-eight  votes  were  given  in  this 
district  having  only  twenty -four  voters.  Yet  the  senator 
from  Missouri  gravely  informs  the  Senate  that  Missouri- 
ans  only  crossed  over  the  borders  '  to  protect  the  ballot- 
boxes  against  armed  colonists '  sent  there  under  the 
auspices  of  emigrant-aid  societies.  That  these  Missou- 
rians  crossed  the  line  and  voted  on  that  day  for  Whitfield, 
no  one  doubted  ;  but  he  had  a  majority  of  the  voters  of 
the  Territory,  and  for  that  reason  his  election  was  not 
contested.  That  is  the  answer  to  the  senator  from  Con 
necticut,  who  has  built  his  argument  on  that  fact. 

"  The  character  of  this  invasion  will  appear  in  an  ox- 
tract  from  a  speech  made  by  one  of  these  modern  heroes 
(Gen.  Stringfellow),  who,  according  to  the  senator 
from  Missouri,  crosses  over  into  Kansas  '  to  protect  tne 
ballot-boxes  from  the  armed  colonists '  from  the  free 
States.  This  speech  was  made  just  before  the  elec 
tion  of  Nov.  29,  1854,  to  which  the  senator  from 
Connecticut  has  referred  with  so  much  confidence,  at  St. 
Joseph,  Mo.  In  that  speech,  Gen.  Stringfellow  said, — 


AFFAIRS   IN  KANSAS.  159 

"  *  I  tell  you  to  mark  every  scoundrel  among  you  that 
is  the  least  tainted  with  free-soilism  or  abolitionism.,  and 
exterminate  him.  Neither  give  nor  take  quarter  from  the 
damned  rascal.  I  propose  to  mark  them  in  this  house, 
and  on  the  present  occasion,  so  that  you  may  crush  them 

out: 

"  «  Crush  them  out '  is  the  language.  You  will  remem 
ber,  sir,  that  the  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States 
—  a  man  who  spent  the  dew  of  his  youth  and  the  vigor 
of  his  early  manhood  in  assailing  democratic  statesmen, 
and  who  is  now  giving  the  mature  years  of  his  life  to 
undermining  and  perverting  democratic  principles  —  sent 
an  edict  to  Massachusetts,  pending  the  election  in  1853, 
that  the  president l  was  up  to  the  occasion,'  and  intended 
*  to  crush  out  the  element  of  abolitionism.'  Gen. 
Stringfellow,  like  the  president,  is  *  up  to  the  occasion.' 
He  has  caught  up  the  word  of  the  attorney-general. 
He  is  going  to  mark  the  free-soilers,  he  says,  that  you 
may  '  crush  them  out.'  I  think  his  success,  sir,  will  be 
about  equal  to  the  success  which  followed  the  efforts  of 
the  president  and  Gen.  Gushing  in  *  crushing  out  the 
element  of  abolitionism.'  The  elections  of  the  last  two 
years  have  shown  who  is  the  crusher  and  who  is  the 
crushed.  Gen.  Stringfellow  continues :  — 

" i  To  those  who  have  qualms  of  conscience  as  to  violat 
ing  laws,  state  or  national,  the  time  has  come  when  such 
impositions  must  be  disregarded,  as  your  rights  and 
property  are  in  danger;  and  I  advise  you,  one  and  all,  to 
enter  every  election  district  in  Kansas,  in  defiance  of  Reeder 
and  his  vile  myrmidons,  and  vote  at  the  point  of  the  bowie- 
knife  and  revolver.  Neither  give  nor  take  quarter,  as  our 
cause  demands  it.  It  is  enough  that  the  slaveholding 
interest  wills  it,  from  which  there  is  no  appeal.  What 


160  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

right  has  Gov.  Reeder  to  rule  Missourians  in  Kansas? 
His  proclamation  and  prescribed  oath  must  be  repudiated. 
It  is  your  interest  to  do  so.  Mind  that  slavery  is  estab 
lished  where  it  is  not  prohibited.' 

" '  Qualms  of  conscience  as  to  violating  laws,  state  or 
national.'  No,  sir,  that  will  never  do !  '  Such  impo 
sitions  must  be  disregarded.'  '  Every  election  district 
in  Kansas  must  be  entered  by  one  and  all,'  and  they 
must  *  vote  at  the  point  of  the  bowie-knife  and  revolver.' 
Is  that  the  way  these  border  gentlemen  pass  over  the  line, 
according  to  the  senator  from  Missouri,  '  to  protect  the 
ballot-boxes  against  the  armed  colonists  '  ? 

"  (  Qualms  of  conscience  about  violating  laws,  state  or 
national,'  were  given  up  ;  and  they  '  entered  into  every 
election  district  in  Kansas,  in  spite  of  the  proclamation 
of  Reeder,'  and  made  the  election  of  Whitfield  doubly 
sure.  The  Senate  will  remember  that  the  senator  from 
Missouri  assures  us  that  Missourians  only  crossed  the 
borders  to  '  protect  the  ballot-boxes  against  the  armed 
colonists'  from  the  East.  Sir,  I  commend  to  the 
especial  consideration  of  the  senator  from  Missouri  the 
advice  of  Gen.  Stringfellow,  to  give  up  all  *  qualms  of 
conscience  as  to  violating  laws,  state  or  national,'  and  to 
'  enter  every  election  district  in  Kansas.'  Is  that  the 
way  Missourians  <  protect  the  ballot-boxes  over  the  bor 
ders '? 

"  I  proceed  now  with  the  facts.  The  census  of  Kan 
sas  was  taken,  by  the  direction  of  Gov.  Reeder,  in 
February,  1855  ;  and  then  there  were  eight  thousand  five 
hundred  inhabitants,  and  two  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  seventy-seven  legal  voters,  in  the  Territory.  At  the 
ensuing  election,  —  on  the  30th  of  March,  1855,  —  four 
thousand  voters  from  the  State  of  Missouri  passed  into 


AFFAIRS  IN  KANSAS.  161 

that  Territory  and  gave  their  votes.  Lawrence,  accord 
ing  to  the  census,  was  entitled  to  less  than  five  hundred 
votes.  But,  sir,  nine  hundred  and  fifty  were  cast ; 
although  nearly  one-half  the  legal  voters  of  Lawrence,  if 
we  are  to  believe  the  testimony  of  some  of  their  most 
respectable  citizens,  refused  to  vote  on  that  day.  More 
than  eight  hundred  Missourians,  armed  to  the  teeth,  led 
by  Col.  Young,  a  lawyer  of  Western  Missouri,  went  to 
Lawrence,  the  home  of  the  New-England  men  so  often 
assailed  and  so  much  misrepresented  in  the  documents 
before  us.  Col.  Young  made  a  speech  declaring  that 
he  would  vote,  or  would  shed  his  blood.  He  took  the 
precaution,  however,  to  swear  in  his  vote.  He  had  more 
regard  for  his  life  than  he  had  for  his  conscience. 

"  4  In  the  Lawrence  district,  speeches  were  made  to  them 
by  leading  residents  of  Missouri,  in  which  it  was  said  that 
they  would  carry  their  purpose,  if  need  be,  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet  and  bowie-knife ;  and  one  voter  was  fired 
at  as  he  was  driven  from  the  election-ground.  Finding 
they  had  a  greater  force  than  was  necessary  for  that  poll, 
some  two  hundred  men  were  drafted  from  the  number,  and 
sent  off,  under  their  proper  officers,  to  another  district ; 
after  which  they  still  polled  from  this  camp  over  seven 
hundred  votes.' 

"  Gen.  Pomeroy  says  that  in  the  fourth  and  seventh  dis 
tricts,  along  the  Sante  Fe*  road,  — 

"  '  The  invaders  came  together  in  one  armed  and  organ 
ized  body,  with  trains  of  fifty  wagons,  besides  horsemen, 
and,  the  night  before  election,  pitched  their  camp  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  polls ;  and  having  appointed  their  own  judges 
in  place  of  those  who,  from  intimidation  or  otherwise,  failed 
to  attend,  they  voted  without  any  proof  of  residence.  In 
these  two  election-districts,  where  the  census  shows  one 
U* 


162  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

hundred  voters,  there  were  polled  three  hundred  and  f:ur- 
teen  votes.' 

"  In  the  Leavenworth  district,  hundreds  of  men  break 
fasted  in  Missouri,  voted  in  Kansas,  and  returned  on  the 
same  day  to  Missouri.  While,  the  voting  was  going  on,  one 
of  their  leaders  made  a  speech,  in  which  he  told  the  Platte- 
county  boys  that  they  must  stand  aside,  and  let  the  Clay- 
county  boys  vote  first,  because  they  had  the  farthest  to  go 
in  returning  to  their  homes  ;  and  the  Platte-county  boys  of 
Missouri  stood  aside,  and  allowed  the  Clay-county  boys 
of  Missouri  to  vote  first  and  go  home. 

O 

"  This  memorial  declares  that 

"  4  Hundreds  of  men  came  together  in  the  sixteenth  dis 
trict,  crossing  the  river  from  Missouri  the  day  before  elec 
tion,  and  encamping  together,  armed  and  provisioned,  made 
the  fiercest  threats  against  the  lives  of  the  judges,  and  during 
the  night  called  several  times  at  the  house  of  one  of  them 
for  the  purpose  of  intimidating  him,  declaring  in  the  pres 
ence  of  his  wife  that  a  rope  had  been  prepared  to  hang 
him :  and  although  we  are  not  prepared  to  say  that  these 
threats  would  have  been  carried  out,  yet  they  served  to 
produce  his  resignation,  and  give  these  invaders,  in  the  sub 
stitution,  control  of  the  polls  ;  and,  on  the  morning  of  the 
election,  a  steamboat  brought  from  the  town  of  Weston. 

O  ' 

Mo.,  to  Leavenworth,  an  accession  to  their  number  of  sev 
eral  hundred  more,  who  returned  in  the  same  boat  after 
depositing  their  votes.  There  were  over  nine  hundred  and 
fifty  votes  polled,  besides  from  a  hundred  to  a  hundred  and 
fifty  actual  residents  who  were  deterred  or  discouraged 
from  voting  ;  while  the  census  returns  show  but  three  hun 
dred  and  eighty-five  votes  in  the  district  a  month  before.  Not 
less  than  six  hundred  votes  were  here  given  by  these  non 
residents  of  the  Territory,  who  voted  without  being  sworn 


AFFAIRS   IN   KANSAS.  163 

as  to  their  qualifications,  and,  immediately  after  the  elec 
tion,  returned  to  Missouri  ;  some  of  them  being  the  incum 
bents  of  important  public  offices  there.' 

"  I  will  now,  sir,  quote  what  Gen.  Pomeroy  says  of  the 
election  in  the  eighteenth  district ;  and  I  ask  the  attention 
of  the  senator  from  Missouri  to  this  statement :  — 

" '  In  the  eighteenth  election  district,  where  the  popu 
lation  was  sparse,  and  no  great  amount  of  foreign  votes 
was  needed  to  overpower  it,  a  detachment  from  Missouri, 
from  sixty  to  a  hundred,  passed  in  with  a  train  of  wagons, 
arms,  and  ammunition,  making  their  camp  the  night 
before  the  election  near  Moorestown,  the  place  of  the  polls, 
without  even  a  pretext  of  residence,  and  returning  imme 
diately  to  Missouri  after  their  work  was  done  ;  their  leader 
and  captain  being  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Missouri,  but 
late  the  presiding-officer  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
and  who  had  bowie-knife  and  revolver  belted  around  him, 
apparently  ready  to  shed  the  blood  of  any  man  who  refused 
to  be  enslaved.  All  these  facts  we  are  prepared  to  establish, 
if  necessary,  by  proof  that  would  be  considered  competent 
in  a  court  of  justice.' 

"  Gen.  Pomeroy  expresses  the  opinion 

"  '  That  not  less  than  three  thousand  votes  were  given 
by  these  armed  invaders,  who  came  organized  in  bands,  with 
officers  and  arms,  and  tents  and  provisions,  and  munitions 
of  war,  as  though  they  were  marching  upon  a  foreign  foe 
instead  of  their  own  unoffending  fellow-citizens.  Upon 
the  principal  road  leading  into  our  Territory,  and  passing 
several  important  polls,  they  numbered  not  less  than  twelve 
hundred  men ;  and  one  camp  alone  contained  not  less  than 
six  hundred.  They  arrived  at  their  several  destinations 
the  night  before  the  election,  and  having  pitched  their 
camps,  and  placed  their  sentries,  waited  for  the  coming 


LIFE  OF  HESKY  WHSOK. 


day.     Baggage-wagons  were  there,  with  arms  and 

eooogh  for  a  protract  %ht,aBdam^tfea  two 


beating,  and  flags  ftji&g ;  and  their  leaders  were  of  the  most 
prominent  and  conspicuous  mea  of 

-  How  Terr  considerate  it  was,  Mr. 
1  prominent  and  conspicuous  men/  with  their  baggage- nag- 

-    .   -u.       -  •"•-. 


•takifc^  of  Kansas  to  protect  the  ballot-boxes  from 

-  %  the  gentleman  from  Cotrnecdet: 
why  the  seats  of  the  legislators  elected  br  the 


lawrer  of  LeaTen  worth,  not 
'   to  hare  the  Ml  of  the 


the  nsdtt?     He 


of  the 
from 

-       : 


^  Toe  dKcers  of  tke  United  States  in  tne 

—  :    j   -    -  r-r  ::-,::          ;-.  - 

aieaBsiave-Sfiafee  an;  and 

:; 


AFFAIRS  IN   KAXSAS.  165 

ty-one  officers  of  the  Federal  Government  in  the  Terri 
tory,  nineteen  are  slave-State  men,  and  one  is  a  free-> 
man  ;  but  already  he  is  marked  by  Atehison,  and  another 
designated  for  his  place.  Within  the  last  ten  days,  men 
from  Kansas  have  called  upon  the  executive  to  remonstrate 
against  this  striking-down  of  a  public  officer  simply  for  the 
crime  of  being  in  favor  of  free  institutions. 

"  When  I  yielded  the  floor  yesterday  for  an  adjourn 
ment,  I  was  speaking  of  the  election  of  the  30th  of  March, 
1S55.  The  result  of  that  election  was,  that  the  nineteen 
districts  in  Kansas  were  carried  by  the  proslavery  party, 
and  that  more  than  six  thousand  votes  were  given  in  that 
Territory,  where,  thirty  days  before,  there  were  less  than 
three  thousand  voters. 

••  The  question  was  put  yesterday  by  the  honorable  sen 
ator  from  Connecticut,  why  the  governor  gave  certificates 
of  election  on  that  occasion.  I  will  simply  say,  that  Go v. 
Reader,  in  the  cases  brought  before  him,  did  refuse  to  de 
liver  the  ceftifiattol :  thti  he  made  the  refusal  in  AN  pNfr 
ence  of  the  men  who  claimed  them  with  bowie-knives  and 
revolvers  in  their  belts,  and  amidst  threats  of  his  life  ;  and, 
while  he  read  the  statement,  he  held  a  cocked  revolver  in 
his  hand  for  necessary  nlf  Jtofcaau  There  were  a  few 
JbyfQted  frknd>  around  him,  expecting  to  see  him  murdered 
on  ih.i:  tpwrioft,  In  AM  OMH  Ml  a:  Ifci  IHM  OMAHM 
in  the  cases  where  at  the  time  no  one  dared  to  raise  a  ques 
tion,  in  the  cases  where  at  the  time  a  contest  was  neg^^ 
the  certificates  were  given.  A  new  election  was  ordered 

••.-.:'.-..••  ^-  .v.s.-s  u'.-.;-:v   :'...    ,.::        .     <.  wero  so:  a>i.:.e  ;    M^ll 

pursuance  thereof,  the  people  elected  representatives  and 
councillors,  and  commissions  were  issued  to  them.  They 
met  on  the  second  day  of  July  at  Pawnee ;  and  both 
branches  of  the  legislature,  without  examining  the  &ct% 


166  LIFE  OF  HENEY  WILSON. 

and  positively  refusing  to  do  so,  voted  out  the  men  chosen 
by  the  people  of  Kansas,  and  voted  in  the  men  originally 
chosen  by  the  Missouri  invaders.  This  legislature  thus 
chosen  moved  the  place  of  meeting  from  Pawnee  to  Shaw- 
nee  Mission  against  the  consent  of  the  governor,  who  re 
fused  afterwards  to  recognize  it  as  a  legislature.  They 
went  on,  and  passed  the  laws  which  are  now  brought  he;e. 
Some  of  those  laws  are  as  inhuman  as  any  code  ever  pre 
sented  for  the  government  of  a  conquered  people. 

"  When  the  legislature  assembled,  when  it  turned  out 
the  men  who  had  been  legally  chosen,  when  it  brought  in 
the  men  imposed  on  the  Territory  by  armed  invaders  from 
a  neighboring  State,  when  it  removed  to  the  Shawnee 
Mission,  when  it  was  repudiated  by  your  governor  sent 
there  by  this  administration,  then  it  was  that  the  freemen 
of  Kansas  assembled  in  their  primary  meetings,  and  de 
clared  against  the  legality  of  this  legislature  and  its  acts. 
A  convention  of  the  people  was  called.  That  convention 
assembled,  and  framed  a  constitution  ;  the  people  ratified  it ; 
and  that  constitution  is  now  submitted  for  the  action  of 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  The  senator  from  Con 
necticut  denounces  it  as  a  '  spurious  convention.'  Sir,  this 
convention  was  the  act  of  the  people  of  Kansas  in  their 
sovereign  primary  capacity.  They  accepted  the  doctrine 
of  squatter  sovereignty.  They  accepted  the  doctrines  laid 
down  by  Madison,  by  Marshall,  by  Story,  by  Judge  Wilson, 
by  Buchanan  and  Wright,  and  the  chiefs  of  the  Democratic 
party,  in  the  days  when  the  Democratic  party  paid  some 
little  regard  to  the  principles  of  popular  government. 

"  Sir,  the  senator  from  Connecticut  denounced  this 
act  of  the  people  as  a  '  spurious  convention.'  In  1836, 
the  freemen  of  Michigan,  disregarding  the  action  of  their 
legislature,  came  together  in  their  primary  capacity, 


AFFAIRS  IN  KANSAS.  167 

framed  a  constitution,  sent  that  constitution  to  Congress, 
and  that  constitution  was  carried  through  the  Senate  by 
the  votes  of  Benton,  Buchanan,  Wright,  and  the  chiefs  of 
the  Democratic  party ;  but  that  was  in  the  days  of  Andrew 
Jackson,  when  it  was  supposed  the  people  of  this  coun 
try  had  retained  the  rights  guaranteed  to  them  by  the 
fundamental  laws  of  the  country.  Sir,  Andrew  Jackson 
did  not  denounce  the  movement  as  an  insurrectionary 
one,  although  they  refused  to  receive  the  officer  whom 
he  sent  to  them.  The  Congress  of  that  day  did  not 
denounce  those  men  as  traitors  to  the  country,  as  the 
men  of  Kansas  are  denounced  in  the  documents  before 
us,  ten  thousand  extra  copies  of  which  we  are  asked  to 
publish.  No,  sir ;  no !  This  is  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  this  country  when  the  people  have  assembled 
in  their  primary  capacity,  and  exercised  their  right  — 
their  inborn,  natural  right  —  to  change  their  government 
at  their  pleasure,  and  have,  for  such  an  act,  been  held  up 
as  traitors  by  the  government  of  the  country. 

"  Sir,  the  Democracy  in  both  branches  of  Congress 
sustained  the  doctrines  maintained  by  the  suffrage  party 
in  Rhode  Island ;  and  it  so  happens,  that,  when  Gov. 
Dorr  took  refuge  in  the  old  Granite  State,  among  the 
first  who  recognized  the  doctrines  which  he  maintained 
was  the  man  who  is  chief  magistrate  of  the  United 
States,  and  who  now  denounces  the  freemen  of  Kansas, 
and  holds  up  to  the  country,  as  violators  of  the  law,  men 
whc  are,  on  the  4th  of  March  next,  to  be  arrested  if  they 
dare  assemble  in  their  legislative  capacity  and  choose 
two  United-States  senators  to  come  and  implore  us  to 
receive  Kansas  into  this  sisterhood  of  States,  and  thus 
save  this  fair  Territory  from  bloodshed  and  ruin.  Yes, 
sir,  this  man,  who  now  characterizes  as  '  revolutionary ' 


168  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

what  has  already  been  done  by  the  people  of  Kansas, 
and  warns  them  that  further  action  i  will  become  treason 
able  insurrection,'  welcomed  Gov.  Dorr  to  the  capital  of 
New  Hampshire  on  the  14th  of  December,  1842,  in  a 
series  of  resolutions,  declaring,  that,  '  when  the  people 
act  in  their  original  sovereign  capacity,  they  are  not 
bound  to  conform  to  forms  not  instituted  by  themselves  ; ' 
that 4  the  day  of  free  government  would  never  dawn  upon 
the  eyes  of  oppressed  millions  if  the  friends  of  liberty 
should  wait  for  leave  from  tyrants  to  abolish  tyranny.' 

"  Sir,  in  pursuing  this  history,  I  have  followed  the 
order  of  time  ;  and  I  am  now  brought  to  speak  of  another 
invasion  from  Missouri,  —  an  invasion  which  took  place 
on  the  1st  of  October  last,  when  Gen.  Whitfield  was 
elected.  I  state  here  —  on  the  authority  of  gentlemen, 
some  half-dozen  of  whom  are  within  the  sound  of  my 
voice,  and  who  will  prove  it  under  oath  before  your 
committee  if  you  will  permit  them  to  do  so  —  that  hun 
dreds  of  men  went  over  from  Missouri,  and  voted  in  that 
election. 

"  The  invasion  —  the  fourth  invasion,  of  which  we 
have  heard  so  much  in  these  papers  from  the  executive 
department  —  grew  out  of  the  cold-blooded  murder  of  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Dow,  at  Hickory  Point,  by  one 
Coleman.  Mr.  Branson  and  his  neighbors  took  the  mor 
tal  remains  of  the  murdered  Dow  from  the  highway, 
where  he  had  lain  for  hours,  and  consigned  them  to  his 
last  resting-place.  The  murderer  has  never  been  tried 
nor  arrested.  Branson,  with  whom  Dow  had  lived,  was 
arrested  on  a  peace-warrant  by  Sheriff  Jones,  and 
rescued  by  some  fifteen  of  his  neighbors  and  friends. 
Then  it  was  that  the  stories  were  manufactured,  that  a 
thousand  men  were  organized  at  Lawrence,  armed  with 


APFAIKS  IN  KANSAS.  169 

Sharpe's  rifles  and  cannon,  ready  to  resist  the  authori 
ties.  There  were  not  then  more  than  three  hundred 
Sharpe's  rifles  in  Lawrence,  and  not  one  cannon.  There 
was  no  armed  soldiery  in  Lawrence  when  these  charges 
were  made :  there  were  armed  men  there  ;  but  they  were 
not  embodied.  Of  the  men  who  aided  in  the  rescue  of 
Branson,  —  an  act  which  might  take  place  in  any  State, 
at  any  time,  without  any  governor  thinking  of  calling 
out  the  armed  militia,  much  less  the  forces  of  the 
United  States,  —  only  two  ever  lived  in  Lawrence;  and 
they  were  not  in  Lawrence  at  that  time.  The  reports 
mentioned  in  these  despatches  about  burning  buildings 
have  turned  out  to  be  exaggerated  and  misrepresented. 
"  On  the  strength  of  these  reports,  however,  Gov 
Shannon  sent  his  letter  of  the  28th  of  November  to  the 
president ;  and  on  the  next  day  he  issued  that  fatal  proc 
lamation,  which  fomented,  at  the  time,  the  invasion  from 
Missouri ;  and  this  was  followed  by  his  telegraphic 
despatch  of- the  1st  of  December.  Here  let  me  say,  that 
in  this  letter,  proclamation,  and  despatch,  Gov.  Shannon 
shows  that  he  is  not  a  man  who  comprehends  his  position 
or  his  duties.  He  was  excited  and  frightened  by  the 
reports  and  rumors  he  relied  upon.  During  this  period, 
when  he  ordered  out  the  militia  and  telegraphed  the 
president,  despatches,  founded  on  rumors,,  were  sent  into 
Missouri :  and  the  result  was,  that  from  one  thousand  to 
two  thousand  armed  men  came  from  Missouri  into  Kan 
sas  ;  and  they  were  incorporated  into  that  4  little  force 
of  less  than  four  hundred  men,'  spoken  of  in  these 
despatches  from  Kansas,  which  rallied  to  the  call  of  the 
officers  of  the  militia.  Sir,  if  the  people  of  Kansas  had 
been  with  the  governor,  if  they  had  sympathized  with 
him  in  his  ill-starred  movements,  if  they  had  believed 

15 


170  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

that  law  and  order  were  in  danger,  would  they  not 
have  rallied  to  his  support  ?  On  that  occasion,  the 
arsenal  of  the  United  States  in  Western  Missouri  was 
broken  open  ;  arms  were  stolen,  and  carried  into  Kansas. 
Nothing  is  said  about  this  robbery  in  these  reports.  Mis- 
sourians  broke  open  this  arsenal,  and.  stole^  cannon, 
ammunition,  and  muskets,  for  the  purpose  of  going  on  a 
marauding  invasion  ;  and  the  late  president  of  the  Senate 
was  compelled  —  so  great  was  the  danger  —  to  hasten 
after  them  to  keep  them  from  hurting  somebody  !  Yet 
not  a  word  is  said  about  it  in  these  despatches.  Sir,  if 
the  freemen  of  Kansas  had  broken  open  that  arsenal,  and 
had  stolen  even  a  gun-flint,  you  would  have  had  a  proc 
lamation  from  your  governor  and  your  president,  and 
the  army  of  the  United  States  would  have  been  called 
out  to  put  them  down.  But  it  was  the  organized  men 
of  the  blue  lodges  in  Western  Missouri  who  did  it. 
They  have  been,  and  now  are,  permitted  to  violate  all 
law  with  impunity.  Woodson,  the  secretary  of  Kansas, 
urged  on  these  lawless  men  from  Missouri  by  assuring 
them  that '  there  is  no  doubt  in  regard  to  having  a  fight ; 
and,  if  we  are  defeated  this  time,  the  Territory  is  lost  to 
the  South.' 

"  The  invading  hosts  from  Missouri  encamped  on  the 
Wakarusa,  within  about  six  miles  of  beleaguered  Law 
rence.  In  marked  contrast  to  the  inconsiderate  folly 
of  Shannon  was  the  prudent,  firm,  and  heroic  bear 
ing  of  Gen.  Robinson.  Throughout  the  whole  con 
test  his  prudence  was  signally  manifested ;  and,  in  the 
opinion  of  many,  the  country  was  saved  from  bloodshed 
and  civil  war  by  his  action.  On  the  7th  of  December 
your  governor  tells  you  he  went  to  Lawrence ;  but  he 
does  not  tell  you  the  whole  story.  He  did  go  to  Law- 


AFFAIRS  IN  KANSAS.  171 

rence,  and  he  met  the  Lawrence  men,  and  the  Lawrenco 
women  too  ;  and  he  saw  the  inflexible  determination  pf 
the  one,  and  the  calm  devotion  of  the  other.  He  told 
gentlemen  who  directed  the  affairs  of  Lawrence,  that 
they  had  been  misrepresented  ;  that  they  misunderstood 
each  other;  and  then,  after  two  days  of  conference  and 
negotiation,  he  made  a  treaty.  The  first  sentence  of  the 
treaty  acknowledges  that  the  governor  and  the  people  of 
Lawrence  had  not  understood  each  other.  Here  is  a 
man  who  asked  the  president  for  the  army  of  the  United 
States ;  who  ordered  out  the  militia,  and  incorporates 
into  the  militia  of  Kansas,  by  the  showing  of  these  papers, 
from  a  thousand  to  fifteen  hundred  Missourians  ;  and 
then,  after  doing  this,  he  went  to  Lawrence.  And  what 
did  he  find  ?  People  who  flew  to  arms  simply  to  protect 
their  homes  and  their  firesides  against  an  armed  invasion 
of  two  thousand  men  who  were  threatening  with  oaths 
to  burn  their  city  and  to  blot  them  out  from  existence. 
I  say,  Gov.  Shannon  made  a  treaty  with  Gen.  Lane 
(known  to  some  senators  here)  and  with  Gen.  Robinson 
(a  man  who,  I  hope,  is  hereafter  to  be  known  to  sena 
tors)  :  and  this  treaty  closes  with  the  agreement,  on  the 
part  of  Gov.  Shannon,  that  he  '  will  use  his  influence  to 
secure  to  the  citizens  of  Kansas  remuneration  for  any 
damages  sustained  by  the  sheriff's  posse  in  Douglas 
County  ;  that  he  has  not  called  upon  persons  residents  of 
any  other  States  to  aid  in  the  execution  of  the  laws ; 
and  that  he  has  not  any  authority  or  legal  power  to  do 
so,  nor  will  he  exercise  any  such  power ;  and  that  he 
will  not  call  on  any  citizen  of  another  State  who  may  be 
here.'  In  these  negotiations  he  agreed  to  waive  the 
question  of  the  validity  of  the  laws  of  the  Territorial  legis 
lature.  Then  he  issued  an  order  to  Lane  and  Robinson 


172  LIFE  OF  HENRY    WILSON. 

to  incor^  orate  into  the  service  of  Kansas  the  militia  of 
Lawrence,  and  directed  them  c  to  use  the  enrolled  force 
for  the  preservation  of  the  peace,  and  the  protection  of 
Lawrence  and  vicinity'  against  the  armed  men  on  the 
banks  of  the  Wakarusa. 

"  Mr.  President,  this  treaty,  which  Shannon  signed 
with  Lane  and  Robinson  on  Sunday,  the  9th  of  Decem 
ber,  1855,  will  stand  a  perpetual  confession  of  his  inca 
pacity  and  folly ;  this  order,  giving  Lane  and  Robinson 
authority  '  to  use  the  enrolled  force '  —  with  those  famed 
Sharpens  rifles  —  'for  the  preservation  of  peace,  and  the 
protection  of  Lawrence  and  vicinity '  against  the  armed 
bands  his  fatal  proclamation  had  summoned,  will  stand  a 
living  testimony  that  the  men  of  Lawrence  were  the 
guardians  of  law.  Yes,  sir,  that  treaty  and  that  order 
will  stand,  an  eternal  expression  at  once  of  error  and 
repentance. 

"  After  signing  these  evidences  of  his  own  humiliation, 
he  returned  to  the  camp  on  the  Wakarusa,  and  then, 
to  the  leaders  of  the  crew  he  had  drawn  together,  pro 
claimed  his  truce  with  the  men  of  Lawrence.  Back  to 
their  homes  in  Missouri  sauntered  these  baffled  bands  of 
lawless  deperadoes,  cold,  sullen,  dispirited.  They  came 
to  the  banks  of  the  Wakarusa  big  with  threats  of  ven 
geance  upon  the  free-State  men  of  Lawrence :  they 
returned  with  bitter  curses  upon  the  imbecile  governor 
whose  proclamation  had  drawn  them  from  their  homes. 
Gen.  Stringfellow,  whose  pure  taste  the  senator  from 
South  Carolina  can  vouch  for,  denounced  the  treachery 
of  Shannon.  Capt.  Leonard,  the  leader  of  one  of  these 
gangs  of  border  banditti,  through  the  columns  of  '  The 
St.  Joseph  Gazette  '  declares  that  your  governor  '  raises 
a  storm;  and  then,  to  quell  it,  Judas-like  professes  his 


AFFAIRS  IN  KANSAS.  173 

special  friendship,  first  for  one  party,  and  then,  I  con 
jecture,  for  the  other.  But,  however  this  may  be,  he 
descends  to  the  despicable  position  of  a  common  liar 
both  to  the  one  party  and  the  other.' 

"  You  may  search  the  records  of  the  country  from  the 
settlement  at  Jamestown  to  this  day,  and  you  can  find  no 
instance  of  such  incapacity,  folly,  and  superadded  crimi 
nality,  as  Wilson  Shannon  displayed  on  that  occasion, 
or  such  an  utter  disregard  of  the  rights  of  the  people  as 
was  manifested  by  the  border  settlers  of  Missouri. 

"  This  administration  has  now  clothed  Wilson  Shannon 
—  whose  incompetency  has  been  made  manifest  to  the 
world  —  with  the  civil  and  military  authority,  and  with 
all  the  power  of  the  government  to  execute  the  laws  and 
to  maintain  order  in  the  Territory.  The  duties  assigned 
this  officer  in  the  present  critical  condition  of  affairs  on 
your  frontiers  are  of  the  gravest  and  most  weighty  char 
acter.  Sir,  your  administration  —  by  the  wanton  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  prohibition,  by  the  failure  to  protect  the 
actual  residents  of  Kansas  in  their  rights,  and  by  the 
blundering  acts  and  criminal  remissness  of  the  official 
authorities  —  has  brought  the  nation  to  the  perilous  edge 
of  civil  strife.  Sir,  this  administration  owes  it  to  the 
country,  whose  peace  is  in  danger  this  day,  to  intrust  the 
responsible  and  delicate  duties  of  governor  of  Kansas 
to  a  prudent,  judicious,  sagacious  statesman,  —  a  man 
of  individual  honor  and  personal  character,  in  whom 
the  people  can  place  the  fullest  confidence.  Wilson 
Shannon  is  not  that  man.  The  man  who  could  de 
scend  to  degrading  companionship  around  the  gaming 
tables  of  those  saloons  of  San  Francisco  (described 
by  that  experienced  traveller,  Madame  Ida  Pfeiffer, 
as  the  most  dissolute  she  had  ever  seen  in  her  tour 

15* 


174  LIFE   OF  HENHY  WILSON. 

of  the  globe)  with  Mexican  greasers,  the  escaped 
convicts  of  the  British  penal  colonies,  and  the  des 
peradoes  of  the  Old  World  and  the  New ;  the  man 
who  could  —  while  Kansas  was  overrun  by  armed  bands 
summoned  around  Lawrence  by  his  own  reckless  letters, 
despatches,  and  proclamations ;  while  civil  war  lowered 
over  the  people  intrusted  to  his  care ;  while  an  honored 
citizen,  stricken  down  by  the  assassin,  lay  cold  in  death, 
and  a  devoted  wife  was  weeping  over  his  mortal  remains — 
make  himself  the  humiliating  object  of  the  derision  of  his 
enemies,  and  of  the  pity  of  his  friends,  by  an  exhibition 
of  gross  intoxication,  —  is  not  the  man  to  whom  the 
American  people  would  intrust  the  affairs  of  Kansas. 

"  I  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate,  Mr.  President,  to 
another  forray  over  the  borders,  —  to  the  fifth  Missouri 
invasion :  I  mean  the  irruption  into  Kansas  on  the  15th 
of  December,  when  the  people  were  called  upon  to  vote 
upon  the  constitution  framed  by  that  convention  the 
senator  from  Connecticut  is  pleased  to  pronounce  <  spu 
rious.'  Along  the  Missouri  border  the  people  in  several 
of  the  voting  precincts  were  overawed  by  threats  of  im 
pending  violence,  and  meetings  were  not  holden.  At 
Leaven  worth  the  election  was  broken  up  by  the  lawless 
brutality  of  men,  many  of  whom  had  been  ordered  to 
Leavenworth  on  that  day  to  be  formally  discharged  from 
service  in  the  Kansas  militia,  into  which  they  had  been 
incorporated.  At  the  dinner-hour,  while  most  of  the 
people  were  absent  from  the  polls,  these  '  border  ruffians ' 
rushed  upon  the  officers,  broke  up  the  meeting,  beat  to 
the  earth  Witherell  the  clerk,  whose  life  was  saved  by 
the  heroic  daring  of  Brown,  since  foully  murdered,  who 
rushed  to  his  rescue  at  a  moment  when  the  uplifted  axe 
of  the  assassin  was  about  to  descend  upon  bis  prostrate 
form. 


AFFAIRS  IN  KANSAS.  175 

"  On  the  22d  of  December  another  forray  was  made 
upon  freedom  at  Leavenworth  ;  and  the  press  of  Mr.  Del- 
ahay,  which  barely  escaped  on  the  15th,  was  destroyed. 
Mr.  Delahay  is  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  has  been  a 
slaveholder  in  his  native  State,  in  Alabama,  and  in  Mis 
souri,  —  a  man  who  has  little  sympathy  with  antislavery 
men.  He  is  simply  one  of  those  moderate,  conservative 
men  who  believe  that c  free  labor  is  honorable,  and  slave 
labor  is  dishonorable,'  and  that  the  permanent  interests 
of  Kansas  would  be  promoted  by  making  it  a  free  com 
monwealth. 

"  On  the  15th  of  January  the  people  of  Kansas  were 
called  upon  to  elect  officers  under  the  constitution  adopt 
ed  on  the  15th  of  December.  Another  assault  upon  the 
freedom  of  the  ballot-box  was  made  at  Easton  by  armed 
men.  The  people  attempted  to  resist  the  destruction  of 
the  ballot-boxes  by  these  marauding  squads  that  were 
prowling  over  the  country,  insulting  the  people,  and 
robbing  them  of  their  means  of  defence.  Peaceable, 
law-abiding  citizens  were  hunted  down,  fired  upon,  and 
their  lives  put  in  imminent  peril.  Some  of  them  had  to 
flee  to  Lawrence,  as  to  a  city  of  refuge,  to  save  them 
selves  from  the  vengeance  of  the  prowling  assassins.  A 
party  of  these  lawless  desperadoes  captured  Mr.  Brown 
—  who  so  bravely  rescued  Witherell  at  Leavenworth  — 
and  several  others ;  robbed  them  of  their  arms  ;  and  then, 
with  hatchets  and  knives,  they  fiendishly  hacked  and  cut 
Brown  to  pieces,  flung  him  in  a  dying  condition  into 
a  carriage,  and  bore  him  to  his  home  to  breathe  out  his 
life  in  the  arms  of  his  distracted  wife,  another  sacrifice  to 
the  dark  spirit  of  slave  propagandism. 

"  To-day,  sir,  unless  they  are  on  their  march,  there  are 
arming  and  organizing  in  Western  Missouri,  in  the  blue 


176  LIFE  OF   HENKY    WILSON. 

lodges,  in  the  secret  camps,  hosts  of  men  for  another 
invasion.  Sleepless  eyes  are  upon  these  movements 
organized  by  Atchison  and  his  subalterns.  Gen.  Lane 
and  Gen.  Robinson  sent  to  the  president,  on  the  21st  of 
January,  a  telegraphic  despatch.  Gen.  Lane — a  man 
who  trod  the  battle-field  of  Buena  Yista ;  a  man  who 
knows  something  of  what  war  is ;  who  knows  something 
of  the  threats  that  have  been  made,  and  the  preparations 
that  are  now  making,  on  the  borders  of  Western  Mis 
souri,  for  another  lawless  invasion  of  Kansas  —  has  ap 
pealed  to  the  president  for  protection.  He  is  no  fanatic. 
Sir,  y^u  cannot  call  him  an  abolitionist;  at  least,  not 
yet. 

"  The  senator  from  New  Hampshire  (Mr.  Hale)  says 
he  will  be  one  soon.  The  scenes  through  which  he  is 
passing  are  calculated  to  abolitionize  men  made  of  the 
hardest  natures.  John  Quincy  Adams  once  said  that  a 
man  c  has  the  right  to  be  an  abolitionist ;  and,  being  an 
abolitionist,  he  violates  no  law,  human  or  divine.'  Gen. 
Lane  may  be  an  abolitionist ;  but,  sir,  he  is  not  one  now. 
On  the  21st  of  January  he  asked  the  president  to  send 
the  military  force  stationed  at  Fort  Leavenworth  to  pro 
tect  the  people  of  Kansas  against  an  invasion  which  is 
4  organizing  on  our  border,  amply  supplied  with  artillery, 
for  the  avowed  purpose  of  invading  our  Territory,  de 
molishing  our  towns,  and  butchering  our  unoffending 
free-State  citizens.' 

"Two  days  after,  —  on  Jan.  23,  —  Gen.  Lane  and 
Gen.  Robinson  asked  the  president  to  issue  his  procla 
mation  forbidding  this  lawless  invasion  of  their  Territory. 
The  senator  from  Connecticut  flatters  himself  that  those 
of  us  who  do  not  approve  the  course  of  the  adminis 
tration  will  be  greatly  disapooiiited  to  find  that  the  lead- 


AFFAIRS  IN  KANSAS.  177 

ers  of  the  free-State  movement  in  Kansas  have  implored 
the  executive  to  issue  his  proclamation.  Let  not  the 
senator  from  Connecticut  lay  the  flattering  unction  to 
his  soul  that  we  are  chagrined  by  the  disclosure  of  this 
correspondence.  Robinson  and  Lane,  in  behalf  of  the 
imperilled  people  of  Kansas,  asked  the  president  to  issue 
i  his  proclamation  immediately,  forbidding  the  invasion, 
which,  if  carried  out  as  planned,  will  stand  forth  without 
a  parallel  in  the  world's  history.'  They  did  not  ask  the 
president  for  his  proclamation  against  the  wronged  and 
oppressed  people  of  Kansas.  They  asked  for  bread ; 
the  president  gave  them  a  stone  :  they  asked  for  a  fish ; 
the  president  gave  them  a  serpent. 

"  The  president,  sir,  has  issued  his  proclamation  ;  but 
that  proclamation  is  chiefly  and  mainly  directed  against 
Lane  and  Robinson,  and  the  liberty-loving,  law-abiding 
free-State  men  of  Kansas.  Like  his  annual  message,  in 
which  he  softly  spoke  of  the  long  series  of  outrages  you 
will  scarcely  find  paralleled  in  the  history  of  Christian 
States  as  '  irregularities ; '  like  that  special  message,  in 
which  the  aggressive  acts  of  the  Missouri  invaders  were 
covered  over  with  mild  and  honeyed  phrases,  and  the 
defensive  measures  of  the  actual  settlers  treated  as  insur 
rectionary  acts,  demanding  executive  censure,  —  this  proc 
lamation  will  be  received  on  the  Western  borders,  by  the 
men  who  by  their  votes  and  by  their  resolves  have  dic 
tated  law  to  Kansas,  with  shouts  of  approval.  Sir,  this 
proclamation  will  carry  no  terror  into  the  blue  lodgri  and 
secret  clubs  of  Western  Missouri. 

"  But,  sir,  we  were  congratulated  yesterday  by  the 
senator  from  Connecticut  that  the  laws  were  to  be  exe 
cuted,  and  order  preserved.  I  call  the  attention  of  the 
Senate  and  of  the  country  to  the  order  of  the  secretary 


178  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

of  war.  What  does  this  order  say  to  Col.  Sumner  ? 
Does  it  clearly  and  expressly  command  him  to  arrest,  at 
all  hazards,  any  aggressive  movement  upon  Kansas  from 
Missouri?  The  secretary  of  war  informs  Col.  Sumner 
that 

"  <  The  president  has,  by  proclamation,  warned  all  per 
sons  combined  for  insurrection,  or  invasive  aggression^ 
against  the  organized  government  of  the  Territory  of 
Kansas,  or  associated  to  resist  the  due  execution  of  the 
laws  therein,  to  abstain  from  such  revolutionary  and  law 
less  proceedings.' 

"  Does  the  secretary,  then,  direct  Col.  Sumner  to  defend 
Kansas  against  '  invasive  aggression  '  ?  No,  sir ;  no  ! 
The  secretary  then  issues  the  orders  of  the  government 
to  Col.  Sumner  in  these  terms :  — 

"  '  If,  therefore,  the  governor  of  the  Territory,  finding 
die  ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceeding  and  the  pow 
ers  vested  in  the  United-States  marshals  inadequate  for 
the  suppression  of  insurrectionary  combinations,  or  armed 
resistance  to  the  execution  of  the  law,  should  make  requi 
sition  upon  you  to  furnish  a  military  force  to  aid  him  in 
the  performance  of  that  official  duty,  you  are  hereby 
directed  to  employ  for  that  purpose  the  forces  under  your 
command.' 

"  Sir,  this  is  not  a  direction  to  Col.  Sumner  to  use  his 
forces  against  the  armed  Missouri  invaders.  The  secre 
tary  tells  the  colonel  that  the  president  has  sent  out  his 
proclamation  against  those  movements  ;  but,  when  ho 
comes  to  direct  the  commander  of  the  force  of  the  United 
States  what  to  do,  he  does  not  order  him  to  use  that 
force  if  there  shall  be  an  invasion  from  the  State  of 
Missouri.  The  secretary  shrinks  from  putting  himself 
against  the  lawless  men  who  represent  a  power  in'  this 


AFFAIRS  IN  KANSAS. 

country  that  sustains  them  in  their  aggressive  acts.  Sir, 
the  secretary  bends  to  that  power  ;  he  bows  to  these  men, 
who  have  no  i  qualms  of  conscience  as  to  violating  laws, 
state  or  national ; '  and  we  have  kad  nothing  but  bows  to 
these  men  for  the  last  eighteen  months  from  the  other 
end  of  the  avenue. 

"  The  reason  why  the  government  has  not  used  its 
proper  legitimate  influences  in  Kansas  for  peace,  for 
order,  and  for  liberty,  is  the  same  reason  which  origi 
nally  snatched  that  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
square  miles  of  free  soil,  —  consecrated  forever  to  the 
laboring  millions  of  this  country,  —  and  flung  it  open  to 
the  slave-extending  interests. 

"  Sir,  I  know  that  men  in  the  confidence  of  the  admin 
istration  have  expressed  the  idea  that  the  administration 
intends,  if  the  people's  legislature  meets  on  the  4th  of 
March,  to  arrest  the  members  the  moment  they  take 
the  oath  of  office.  It  is  a  well-known  fact,  sir,  —  known 
by  those  who  know  any  thing  about  affairs  in  Kansas, — 
that  they  do  not  intend  to  pass  laws,  or  interfere  in  any 
way  with  the  legislation  of  the  country  ;  that  they  intend 
merely  to  assemble,  state  their  grievances  to  the  country, 
and  choose  senators  to  come  here  to  implore  us  in  God's 
name  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  people,  and  allow 
Kansas  to  take  her  place  in  this  Union  of  free  com 
monwealths.  I  understand  these  to  be  the  inten 
tions  of  the  tried  and  trusted  leaders  of  the  free- 
State  men  in  Kansas.  You  may  arrest  Gov.  Robinson 
and  the  leaders  of  the  free-State  party ;  you  may  im 
prison  them  if  you  will ;  you  may  shed  the  blood  of  the 
actual  settlers  of  Kansas :  but  you  cannot  break  their 
spirits,  or  crush  out  their  hopes.  The  people  of  Kansas 
are  for  a  free  State  ;  and,  if  it  is  made  a  slave  State,  it 


180  LIFE   OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

will  be  by  the  criminal  remissness  or  direct  interposition 
of  this  administration.  Leave  the  people  of  Kansas  free, 
uninfluenced  by  your  slave-State  officials  you  have  thrust 
upon  them,  uninfluenced  by  foreign  interposition,  and 
they  will  bring  her  here  clothed  in  the  white  robes  of 
Freedom. 

"  The  senator  from  Missouri  said  to  us  the  other  day 
that  the  colonists  from  the  East  wished  to  keep  others 
out;  that  they  wished  to  get  possession  of  the  Territory. 
Armed  men,  he  said,  had  crossed  from  Missouri  to  protect 
the  ballot-boxes  against  the  armed  colonists  sent  there  by 
the  Emigrant-aid  Society.  Did  they  protect  the  ballot- 
boxes  on  the  29th  of  November,  1854,  when  they  went  over 
and  gave  fifteen  hundred  votes  ?  Did  they  protect  the 
ballot-boxes  when  they  marched  into  Kansas  on  the  30th 
of  March,  with  cannon,  with  revolver,  and  with  rifle,  dis 
placed  the  election  of  officers,  and  delivered  their  hundreds 
of  votes,  and,  in  a  place  where  there  were  but  fifty-three 
voters,  cast  over  six  hundred  ?  Did  they  protect  the 
ballot-boxes  when  they  went  there  on  the  15th  of  Decem 
ber,  and  broke  up  the  meeting  at  Leavenworth  ?  Did 
they  protect  the  ballot-boxes  on  the  15th  of  January, 
when  Brown  was  murdered  in  revenge  for  standing  by 
the  ballot-boxes  and  protecting  them  against  them  ? 

"  Sir,  men  aided  to  go  there  by  the  Emigrant-aid  So 
ciety  have  never  —  no,  sir,  never  —  at  any  time,  or  on 
any  occasion,  interfered  with  the  freedom  of  voting. 

'  Whatever  record  leaps  to  light, 
They  never  can  be  shamed.' 

"  Sir,  I  see  that  in  the  South  there  are  movements  from 
ail  quarters  to  get  up  emigrant-aid  societies.  The  sena 
tor  from  Mississippi  (Mr.  Brown),  always  frank  and  manly 


AFFAIKS   IN  KANSAS.  181 

on  these  questions,  proposes  that  Mississippi  shall  send 
three  hundred  of  her  young  men  and  three  hundred  of 
her  bondmen  into  that  Territory  to  plan  and  shape  its 
future.  I  say  to  the  honorable  senator  from  Mississippi, 
Send  your  Mississippi  young  men  and  your  Mississippi 
bondmen :  you  will  never  find,  on  the  part  of  the  men 
who  went  there  from  the  North  under  the  auspices  of 
emigrant-aid  societies,  one  single  unlawful  act  to  keep 
you  out  or  rob  .you  of  one  of  your  lawful  rights.  The 
men  who  charge  the  emigrants  from  the  North  with  ag 
gressions  upon  the  men  of  other  sections  of  the  country 
utter  that  which  has  not  the  shadow  of  an  element  of 
truth  in  it ;  and  they  know  it,  or  they  are  grossly  igno 
rant  of  Kansas  affairs.  This  proposition  of  the  senator 
from  Mississippi  was  followed  by  a  letter  from  a  represen 
tative  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Brooks),  offering  to  give 
a  hundred  dollars,  —  one  dollar  for  every  man  they  will 
send  from  his  section.  I  say  to  the  senators  from  South 
Carolina,  that  if  the  offer  of  their  colleague  in  the  other 
House  is  accepted,  and  if  the  hundred  men  go  from  South 
Carolina  to  Kansas,  they  will  never  be  interfered  with 
in  the  exercise  of  their  legal  rights  by  the  men  who  have 
gone  there  from  New  England  or  from  the  North. 
•  "  Atchison,  the  organizer  and  chief  of  those  border 
movements,  thus  appeals  to  the  citizens  of  Georgia  to 
come  to  the  rescue ;  for  4  KANSAS  MUST  HAVE  SLAVE  IN 
STITUTIONS,  OR  MISSOURI  MUST  HAVE  FREE  INSTITUTIONS.' 
"  Sir,  to  appease  the  unhallowed  desires  of  the  slave 
propaganda,  you  complied  with  Atchison's  demands,  and 
repealed  the  Missouri  prohibition.  Yoii  then  told  the 
laboring-men  of  the  republic,  whose  heritage  you  thus  put 
in  peril,  that  they  could  shape,  mould,  and  fashion  the 
institutions  of  those  future  commonwealths.  Animated 

16 


182  LIFE  OJT  HENJiY   WILSON. 

by  motives  as  pure  and  aims  as  lofty  as  ever  actuated 
the,  founders  of  any  portion  of  the  globe,  the  sons  of  the 
North  wended  their  way  to  this  region  beyond  the  Missis 
sippi.  These  emigrants  did  not  all  go  there  under  the 
auspices  of  emigrant-aid  societies :  for  it  is  estimated 
that  not  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  settlers  of  Kansas 
are  from  New  England  and  New  York  ;  that  nearly  one- 
naif  of  the  dwellers  in  that  Territory  are  from  Pennsyl 
vania  and  the  North-west. 

"  Only  about  one-fourth  of  the  actual  residents  of  Kan 
sas  are  from  the  slaveholding  States ;  and  many  of  these 
settlers  from  the  South,  perhaps  a  majority  of  them,  are 
in  favor  of  making  Kansas  a  free  State.  That  many  of 
these  emigrants  from  the  South  are  in  favor  of  rearing 
free  institutions  will  surprise  no  one  who  understands 
their  condition.  Most  of  these  emigrants  are  poor  men, 
and  have  felt  in  their  native  homes  the  malign  influences 
which  bear  with  oppressive  force  upon  free  labor.  Thirty- 
five  per  cent  of  the  emigration  of  the  slave  States  has 
sought  homes  in  the  free  States ;  while  less  than  ten  per 
cent  of  the  emigration  from  the  free  States  and  from  the 
Old  World  find  homes  in  the  slave  States,  although  those 
States  embrace  the  largest  as  well  as  the  fairest  regions 
of  the  country  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

"  Coming  from  fields  blasted  by  the  sweat  of  artless, 
untutored,  unpaid  labor ;  from  regions  once  teeming 
with  the  products  of  a  prolific  soil,  now  '  exhibiting,'  to 
quote  the  language  applied  '  with  sorrow '  to  his  native 
country  by  the  senator  from  Alabama  (Mr.  Clay),  *  tho 
painful  signs  of  senility  and  decay  apparent  in  Virginia 
and  the  Carolinas  ; '  witnessing  the  prosperity  of  free,  edu 
cated  labor,  —  many  of  these  sons  of  the  South  meet  the 
men  of  the  North,  and  stand  with  them,  shoulder  to 
shoulder,  in  upholding  the  institutions  of  freedom. 


AFFAIES  IN  KANSAS.  183 

"  Within  the  Territory,  the  men  of  the  North  ai  d  tho 
men  of  the  South  meet  together  in  council.  Northern 
and  Southern  men  stood  side  by  side  in  those  assemblages 
of  the  people  that  put  the  brand  of  condemnation  upon 
the  acts  of  the  legislature  imposed  upon  them  ;  North 
ern  and  Southern  men  sat  in  council  in  that  Constitu 
tional  Convention  the  senator  from  Connecticut  now  pro 
nounces  '  spurious ; '  and  Northern  and  Southern  men 
stood  side  by  side  in  the  trenches  of  beleaguered  Law 
rence. 

"  Leave  these  men  now  in  Kansas  free  from  Missouri 
forrays  and  administration  corruption,  and,  in  spite  of  the 
inhuman,  unchristian,  and  devilish  acts  to  be  found  in 
the  past  legislation  of  the  Territory,  they  will  bring  Kan 
sas  here,  as  they  have  done  already,  robed  in  the  gar 
ments  of  Freedom.  Men  of  the  South ;  you  who  would 
blast  the  virgin  soil  of  Kansas  with  the  blighting,  wither 
ing,  consuming  curse  of  slavery  ;  you  who  would  banish 
the  educated,  self-dependent,  free  laboring-men  of  the 
North,  to  make  room  for  the  untutored,  thriftless,  depend 
ent  bondmen  of  the  South,  —  vote  down  the  free-State 
men  of  Kansas,  if  you  can  ;  but  do  not  send  '  border 
ruffians'  to  rob  or  burn  their  humble  dwellings,  and  mur 
der  brave  men,  for  the  crime  of  fidelity  to  their  cherished 
convictions." 

Replying,  April  14,  to  Mr.  Douglas,  who  had  stigma 
tized  Mr.  Wilson  and  his  party  as  "  black  Republicans," 
lie  uses  these  heroic,  telling  words  :  — 

"  The  senator  from  Illinois  may  denounce  us  as  black 
Republicans,  as  abolition  agitators,  if  he  thinks  such 
language  worthy  of  the  Senate  or  of  himself;  but  the 
issue  is  being  made  up  in  the  country  between  the  peo 
ple  and  the  slave  propaganda.  He  told  us  the  other  day 


184  LIFE   OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

that  he  intended  to  subdue  us.  I  say  to  that  senator,  We 
accept  your  issue.  Nominate  some  one  of  your  scarred 
veterans  ;  some  one  who  is  committed,  fully  committed, 
to  your  policy.  You  want  a  candidate  that  is  scarred 
with  your  battles.  Well,  sir,  if  he  goes  into  the  battle 
of  1856,  he  will  not  come  out  of  it  without  scars.  You 
have  made  the  issue :  put  your  chieftains  at  the  head. 
No  man  fitter  to  lead  than  the  honorable  senator  himself 
in  this  contest ;  for  his  position  has  the  merit  at  least  of 
being  bold  ;  and  I  like  a 'bold,  brave  man  who  stands  by 
his  declarations.  Now,  I  say  to  senators  on  the  other 
side  of  the  chamber,  We  will  accept  your  issues.  You 
may  sneer  at  us  as  abolition  agitators.  That  may  have 
some  little  effect  in  some  sections  of  the  North,  but  very 
little  indeed.  We  have  passed  beyond  that.  The  people 
of  this  country  are  being  educated  up  to  a  standard 
above  all  these  little  sneering  phrases.  We  will  accept 
your  issue  ;  but  you  will  not,  can  not,  subdue  us.  I  tell 
the  honorable  senator  he  may  vote  us  down,  but  subdue 
us  never.  We  belong  to  a  race  of  men  that  never  were 
subdued  ;  and,  if  anybody  undertakes  that  work,  he  will 
find  he  has  taken  -a  rather  costly  contract.  Subdue  us  ! 
subdue  us  !  Sir,  you  may  vote  us  down  ;  but  we  stand 
with  the  fathers.  Our  cause  is  the  cause  of  human 
nature.  The  star  of  duty  shines  upon  our  pathway ; 
and  we  will  pursue  that  pathway,  looking  back  for  in 
structions  to  the  great  men  who  founded  the  institutions 
of  tLu  republic,  looking  up  to  Him  whose  '  hand  moves 
the  stars  and  heaves  the  pulses  of  the  deep.'  I  tell  the 
senator  that  this  talk  about  subduing  us  and  conquering 
us  will  not  do.  Gentlemen,  you  cannot  do  it.  You 
may  vote  us  down ;  but  we  shall  live  to  fight  anothei 
day.  (Laughter.) 


AFFAIRS  IN   KANSAS.  185 

Mr.  DOUGLAS.  — 

"  He  who  fights  and  runs  away 
May  live  to  fight  another  day." 

Mr.  WILSON.  —  "  We  shall  not  run  away  to  live  :  we 
shall  live  to  run.  (Laughter.)  We  shall  go  into  the 
conflict  in  the  coming  contest  like  the  Zouaves  at  Inker- 
mann,  c  with  the  light  of  battle  on  our  faces.'  If  we  fall, 
we  shall  fall  to  rise  again  ;  for  the  arm  of  God  is  beneath 
us,  and  the  current  of  advancing  civilization  is  bearing 
us  onward  to  assured  triumph. 

"  Now,  I  will  tell  you  what  we  intend  to  do.  We 
shall  stand  here  and  vote  to  defeat  the  bill  reported  by 
the  senator  from  Illinois,  because  we  believe,  by  the  pro 
visions  of  that  bill,  Kansas  can  be  and  will  be  invaded 
and  conquered.  We  shall  vote  for  the  admission  of  this 
petition,  for  the  admission  of  all  petitions,  from  the  peo 
ple  of  Kansas  ;  we  shall  vote  for  the  admission  of  Kansas 
into  this  Union  as  a  free  State.  If  we  fail,  if  you  vote 
us  down,  we  shall  go  to  the  country  with  that  issue.  We 
shall  appeal  to  the  people,  to  the  toiling  millions  whose 
heritage  is  in  peril,  to  come  to  the  rescue  of  the  people 
of  Kansas,  struggling  to  preserve  their  sacred  rights. 
Madness  may  rule  the  hour ;  the  black  power,  now 
enthroned  in  the  National  Government,  may  prolong  for 
another  Olympiad  its  waning  influence  :  but  we  shall 
ultimately  rescue  the  republic  from  the  unnatural  rule 
of  a  slaveholding  aristocracy.  Before  the  rising  spirit 
of  liberty  this  domination  will  go  down. 

"  A  quarter  of  a  century  ago  the  conquest  and  sub 
jugation  of  the  republic  was  complete.  Institutions  of 
learning,  benevolence,  and  religion,  political  organiza 
tions,  and  public  men,  ay,  and  the  people  themselves, 

16* 


186  LIFE  OF   HENBY  WILSOK. 

all  bowed  in  unresisting  submission  to  the  iron  dominion 
of  the  slave-power.  Murmurs  of  discontent  sometimes 
broke  upon  the  ear  of  the  country  :  here  and  there  a 
solitary  voice  uttered  its  feeble  protest  against  the  domi 
nation  of  a  power  which  had  inthralled  the  heart,  con 
science,  and  intellect  of  the  conquered  North  ;  but  the 
overshadowing  despotism  of  that  power  was  complete. 
Twenty-five  years  have  not  yet  closed  since  a  few  heroic 
men  raised  the  banner  of  impartial  liberty.  Then  we 
had  not  a  single  member  of  the  Senate  or  House  of 
Representatives.  Not  a  single  State  legislature  was 
with  us.  The  political  press  of  the  country  covered  the 
humble  movement  with  ridicule  and  contempt ;  always 
excepting  4  The  New- York  Evening  Post,'  then  con 
ducted  by  that  inflexible  Democrat,  William  Leggett,  who 
went  to  a  premature  grave  cheered  by  the  assurance  that 
he  '  had  written  his  name  in  ineffaceable  letters  on  the 
abolition  record.' 

"  Twenty  years  ago  the  public  sneered  at  and  defied 
the  few  proscribed  and  hunted  followers  who  rallied 
around  the  humble  leaders  that  inaugurated  the  move 
ment,  which,  within  two  years,  has  secured  a  popular 
majority  in  the  free  States  of  more  than  three  hundred 
thousand.  We  have  an  overwhelming  majority  there  to 
day  against  your  policy ;  and,  if  that  majority  is  united, 
we  can  control  the  policy  of  the  country.  We  shall 
triumph ;  we  shall  enlarge  this  side  of  the  chamber ; 
we  shall  thin  out  the  other.  (Laughter.)  We  have 
done  some  of  that  work  recently  in  New  England.  We 
shall  have  a  majority  in  this  chamber  yet ;  we  shall 
have  a  majority  in  the  other  House  ;  and  we  shall  have  a 
man  at  the  other  end  of  the  avenue.  We  shall  take  the 
government  of  this  country,  and  we  shall  govern  the 
country  as  the  true  Democratic  party. 


AFFAIKS  IN  KANSAS.  181 

"Now,  sir,  I  have  told  the  senator  from  Illinois  what 
we  intend  to  do ;  and  we  have  no  doubt  of  doing  it.  If 
the  honorable  senator  wishes,  through  the  coming  weeks 
of  this  debate,  to  throw  on  this  side  of  the  chamber  the 
taunting  epithets  of  c  black  Republicans  '  and  c  abolition 
agitators,'  he  may  find  that  it  is  a  game  that  two  can 
play  at.  I  think  he  and  I  and  others  had  better  dis 
cuss  these  grave  questions  without  the  application  of 
taunts  and  epithets." 

On  the  twenty-second  day  of  May,  1856,  Preston  S. 
Brooks,  member  of  the  House  from  South  Carolina,  came 
into  the  Senate-chamber  and  made  a  dastardly  assault  on 
Mr.  Sumner,  who  fell  prostrate,  under  the  repeated  blows, 
upon  the  floor.  This  act  of  violence  was  occasioned  by 
the  senator's  able  speech,  entitled  "  The  Crime  against 
Kansas,"  on  Mr.  Seward's  bill  for  the  admission  of  the 
State  of  Kansas  into  the  Union.  Mr.  Wilson,  at  that 
moment  in  the  room  of  Mr.  Banks,  immediately  came  into 
the  Senate-chamber,  where  he  found  his  colleague  stricken 
down,  and  weltering  unconscious  in  his  blood.  He  aided 
in  carrying  him  to  his  chamber,  placing  him  upon  his 
couch,  and  alleviating  his  pain.  The  next  day  he  appro 
priately  called  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  the  assault 
upon  his  colleague. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Seward,  a  committee  was  appointed  : 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  27th  instant,  the  floor  and 
galleries  being  filled  with  anxious  listeners,  Mr.  Wilson 
rose,  and  in  a  few  fearless  words  characterized  the  assault 
upon  his  colleague  as  u  brutal,  murderous,  and  cowardly ;  " 
when 

Mr.  Butler  of  South  Carolina,  with  whose  family 
Brooks  the  assailant  was  connected,  rudely  interrupted 
hin>;  and  cries  of  "Order,  order!"  rang  through  the 


188  LIFE  OF   HENRY    WILSON. 

tumultuous  assembly.  Threats  of  personal  violence  arosu 
in  the  confusion ;  but  they  had  no  terror  for  him  who 
knew  no  fear.  In  the  evening  he  went  to  Trenton  to 
speak  before  the  State  Convention ;  and  on  the  morning 
of  the  29th  inst.  he  received,  by  the  hand  of  Gen. 
Joseph  Lane  of  Oregon,  a  challenge  from  Mr.  Brooks. 
Taking  up  his  pen,  he  at  once  replied  in  words  which 
are  memorable  as  embodying  the  views  of  Northern  me» 
upon  duelling. 

WASHINGTON,  May  29,  half-past  ten  o'clock. 
Hon.  P.  S.  BROOKS. 

Sir, — Your  note  of  the  27th  inst.  was  placed  in  my 
hands  by  your  friend  Gen.  Lane  at  twenty  minutes  past 
ten  o'clock  to-day. 

I  characterized  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  the  assault 
upon  my  colleague  as  brutal,  murderous,  and  cowardly. 
I  thought  so  then  :  I  think  so  now.  I  have  no  qualifica 
tions  whatever  to  make  in  regard  to  those  words. 

I  have  never  entertained  or  expressed,  in  the  Senate 
or  elsewhere,  the  idea  of  personal  responsibility  in  the 
sense  of  the  duellist. 

I  have  always  regarded  duelling  as  the  lingering  relic 
of  a  barbarous  civilization,  which  the  law  of  the  country 
has  branded  as  a  crime.  While,  therefore,  I  religiously 
believe  in  the  right  of  self-defence  in  its  broadest  sense, 
the  law  of  my  country  and  the  mature  civilization  of  my 
whole  life  alike  forbid  me  to  meet  you  for  the  purpose 
indicated  in  your  letter. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

HENRY  WILSON. 

This  reply  to  Brooks,  so  firmly,  so  tersely,  and  so 
serenely  expressed,  touched  the  very  key-note  of  public 


LETTER  FROM  MR.   HARTE 

sentiment,  and  was  most  enthusiastically  received  through 
the  whole  Northern  country.  While  the  right  of  self- 
defence  was  not  yielded,  the  unlawful  practice  of  duel 
ling  was  condemned  as  the  remains  of  barbarism,  and 
the  three  strong,  pointed  words  of  rebuke,  "  brutal,  mur 
derous,  and  cowardly,"  sent  back  fearlessly  to  the  chal 
lenger.  The  press,  the  pulpit,  and  men  of  every  political 
complexion,  at  the  North,  indorsed  the  action  ;  and  those 
few  words,  written  in  a  moment  from  the  impulse  of  an 
honest  heart,  have  done  something  to  drive  the  idea  of 
duelling  from  the  mind  of  the  nation. 

The  "cowardly  conclave"  still  beset  the  steps  of  Mr. 
Wilson,  as  the  following  letter  indicates ;  but  they  had 
not  the  courage  to  strike  :  — 

Hon.  H.  WILSON.  WASHINGTON,  June  2,  1856. 

Sir,  —  A  gentleman  in  constant  association  with  the 
South-Carolina  members  sent  to  my  house  last  night  to 
inform  me  that  it  was  intended  to  attack  you  this 
morning. 

Brooks  did  not  leave  town  on  Friday  evening,  but  was 
parading  among  the  groups  at  the  president's  house  on 
Saturday  afternoon.  He  probably  does  not  intend  to 
leave  until  after  the  action  of  the  House  upon  the  out 
rage.  I  mention  these  facts  for  your  information,  and  to 
say  that  you  had  better  be  on  your  guard. 

Yery  truly,  E.  HARTE. 

On  the  13th  of  June  Mr.  Wilson  made  a  brave  and 
manly  reply  to  Mr.  Butler's  speech  of  the  two  preced 
ing  days  assailing  Mr.  Sumner  and  the  State  of  Massa 
chusetts.  The  passages  we  present  will  show  its  spirit 
and  its  forensic  power:  — 


190  LIFE  OF   HENEY  WILSON. 

"  Mr.  PRESIDENT,  —  I  feel  constrained  by  .a  sense  of  duty 
to  my  State,  by  personal  relations  to  my  colleague  and 
friend,  to  trespass  for  a  few  moments  upon  the  time  and 
attention  of  the  Senate. 

*<  You  have  listened,  Mr.  President,  the  Senate  has 
listened,  these  thronged  seats  and  these  crowded  gal 
leries  have  listened,  to  the  extraordinary  speech  of  the 
honorable  senator  from  South  Carolina,  which  has  now 
run  through  two  days.  I  must  say,  sir,  that  I  have 
listened  to  that  speech  with  painful  and  sad  emotions. 
A  senator  of  a  sovereign  State,  more  than  twenty  days 
ago,  was  stricken  senseless  to  the  floor  for  words  spoken 
in  debate.  For  more  than  three  weeks  he  has  been 
confined  to  his  room  upon  a  bed  of  weakness  and  of 
pain.  The  moral  sentiment  of  the  country  has  been 
outraged,  grossly  outraged,  by  this  wanton  assault,  in  the 
person  of  a  senator,  on  the  freedom  of  debate.  The  in 
telligence  of  this  transaction  has  flown  over  the  land,  and 
is  now  flying  abroad  over  the  civilized  world  ;  and  where- 
ever  Christianity  has  a  foothold,  or  civilization  a  resting- 
place,  that  act  will  meet  the  stern  condemnation  of  man 
kind. 

"  Intelligence  comes  to  us,  Mr.  President,  that  a  civil 
war  is  raging  beyond  the  Mississippi ;  intelligence  also 
comes  to  us,  that,  upon  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  lynch  law 
is  again  organized  ;  and  the  telegraph  brings  us  news 
of  assaults  and  murders  around  the  ballot-boxes  of  New 
Orleans,  growing  out  of  differences  of  opinion  and  of 
interests.  Can  we  be  surprised,  sir,  that  these  scenes, 
which  are  disgracing  the  character  of  our  country  and 
our  age,  are  rife,  when  a  venerable  senator  —  one  of  the 
oldest  members  of  the  Senate,  and  chairman  of  its  Judi 
ciary  Committee — occupies  four  hours  of  the  important 


REPLY  TO  MR.   BUTLER.  191 

time  of  the  Senate  in  vindication  of  and  apology  for  an 
assault  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  the  country  ?  If 
lawless  violence  here  in  this  chamber,  upon  the  person 
of  a  senator,  can  find  vindication,  if  this  outrage  upon 
the  freedom  of  debate  finds  apology,  from  a  veteran 
senator,  why  may  not  violent  counsels  elsewhere  go  un- 
rebuked  ? 

"  The  senator  from  South  Carolina,  through  this  debate, 
has  taken  occasion  to  apply  to  Mr.  Sumner,  to  his  speech, 
to  all  that  concerns  him,  all  the  epithets  "  — 

Mr.  BUTLER.  —  "I  used  criticism,  but  not  epithets." 

Mr.  WILSON.  — "  Well,  sir,  I  accept  the  senator's 
word,  and  I  say  4  criticism.'  But,  I  say,  in  his  criticism 
he  used  every  word  that  I  can  conceive  a  fertile  imagi 
nation  could  invent,  or  a  malignant  passion  suggest.  He 
has  taken  his  full  revenge  here  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate 
—  here  in  debate  —  for  the  remarks  made  by  my  colleague. 
I  do  not  take  any  exception  to  this  mode.  This  is  the  way 
in  which  the  speech  of  my  colleague  should  have  been  met, 
-  -  not  by  blows,  not  by  an  assault. 

"  The  senator  tells  us  that  this  is  not,  in  his  opinion,  an 
assault  upon  the  constitutional  rights  of  a  member  of  the 
Senate.  He  tells  us  that  a  member  cannot  be  permitted 
to  print,  and  send  abroad  over  the  world,  with  impunity, 
his  opinions ;  but  that  he  is  liable  to  have  them  questioned 
in  a  judicial  tribunal.  Well,  sir,  if  this  be  so,  —  he  is  a 
lawyer  ;  1  am  not,  —  I  accept  his  view  ;  and  I  ask,  Why  not 
have  tested  Mr.  Sumner's  speech  in  a  judicial  tribunal, 
and  let  that  tribunal  have  settled  the  question  whether  Mr. 
Sumner  uttered  a  libel  or  not  ?  Why  was  it  necessary, 
why  did  the  '  chivalry '  of  South  Carolina  require,  that  for 
words  uttered  on  this  floor,  under  the  solemn  guaranties 
of  constitutional  law,  a  senator  should  be  met  here  by 


192  LIFE  OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

violence  ?  Why  appeal  from  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  from 
a  judicial  tribunal,  to  the  bludgeon  ?  I  put  the  question 
to  the  senator,. to  the  'chivalry'  of  South  Carolina,  ay,  to 
'  the  gallant  set,'  to  use  the  senator's  own  words,  of  '  Ninety- 
six,'  why  was  it  necessary  to  substitute  the  bludgeon  for  the 
judicial  tribunal  ? 

"  The  senator  complained  of  Mr.  Sumner  for  quoting 
the  Constitution  of  South  Carolina ;  and  he  asserted  over 
and  over  again,  and  he  winds  up  his  speech  by  the  decla 
ration,  that  the  quotation  made  is  not  in  the  Constitution. 
After  making  that  declaration,  he  read  the  Constitution, 
and  read  the  identical  quotation.  Mr.  Sumner  asserted 
what  is  in  the  Constitution  ;  but  there  is  an  addition  to  it 
which  he  did  not  quote.  The  senator  might  have  com 
plained  because  he  did  not  quote  it ;  but  the  portion  not 
quoted  carries  out  only  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  the  por 
tion  quoted.  To  be  a  member  of  the  House  of  Represen 
tatives  of  South  Carolina,  it  is  necessary  to  own  a  certain 
number  of  acres  of  land  and  ten  slaves,  or  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  of  real  estate  free  of  debt.  The  senator 
declared  with  great  emphasis  —  and  I  saw  nods,  Demo 
cratic  nods,  all  around  the  Senate —  that  4  a  man  who  was 
not  worth  that  amount  of  money  was  not  fit  to  be  a  repre 
sentative.'  That  may  be  good  Democratic  doctrine,  —  it 
comes  from  a  Democratic  senator  of  the  Democratic  State 
of  South  Carolina,  and  received  Democratic  nods  and 
Democratic  smiles,  —  but  it  is  not  in  harmony  with  the 
democratic  ideas  of  the  American  people. 

"  The  charge  made  by  Mr.  Sumner  was,  that  South 
Carolina  was  nominally  republican,  but  in  reality  had 
aristocratic  features  in  her  constitution.  Well,  sir,  is  not 
this  charge  true  ?  To  be  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  South  Carolina,  the  candidate  must 


EEPLY   TO  MR.    BUTLER.  193 

own  ten  men,  —  yes,  sir,  ten  men,  —  five  hundred  acres  of 
land,  or  have  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  of  real  estate 
free  of  debt ;  and,  to  be  a  member  of  the  Senate,  double  is. 
required.  This  legislature,  having  these  personal  qualifi 
cations,  placing  them  in  the  rank  of  a  privileged  few,  is- 
elected  upon  a  representative  basis  as  unequal  as  the  rot- 
toi:  -borough  system  of  England  in  its  most  rotten  days. 
That  is  not  all.  This  legislature  elects  the  governor  of 
South  Carolina  and  the  presidential  electors.  The  people 
have  the  privilege  of  voting  for  men  with  these  qualifica 
tions  upon  this  basis ;  and  they  select  their  governor  for 
them,  and  choose  the  presidential  electors  for  them.  The 
privileged  few  govern  :  the  many  have  the  privilege  of 
being  governed  by  them. 

"  Sir,  I  have  no  disposition  to  assail  South  Carolina.  God 
knows  that  I  would  peril  my  life  in  defence  of  any  State 
of  this  Union  if  assailed  by  a  foreign  foe.  I  have  voted,, 
and  I  will  continue  to  vote  while  I  have  a  seat  on  this- 
floor,  as  cheerfully  for  appropriations,  or  for  any  thing  that, 
can  benefit  South  Carolina  or  any  other  State  of  this, 
Union,  as  for  my  own  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 
South  Carolina  is  a  part  of  my  country.  Slaveholders  are 
not  the  tenth  part  of  her  population  :  there  is  somebody 
else  there  besides  slaveholders.  I  am  opposed  to  its  system 
of  slavery,  to  its  aristocratic  inequalities,  and  I  shall  con- 
tin  ue  to  be  opposed  to  them  ;  but  it  is  a  sovereign  State  of 
this  Union,  —  a  part  of  my  country,  —  and  I  have  no  dis 
position  to  do  injustice  to  it. 

"  Sir,  the  senator  from  South  Carolina  has  under 
taken  to  assure  the  Senate  and  the  country  to-day  that: 
ho  is  not  the  aggressor.  I  tell  him  that  Mr.  Sumner 
was  not  the  aggressor;  that  the  senator  from  South 
Carolina  was  the  aggressor.  I  will  prove  this  declare 

17 


194  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

tioii  to  be  true  beyond  all  question.  Mr.  Sumner  is  not 
a  man  who  desires  to  be  aggressive  towards  any  one. 
He  came  into  the  Senate  '  a  representative  man.'  His 
opinions  were  known  to  the  country.  He  came  here 
knowing  that  there  were  but  few  in  this  body  who  could 
sympathize  with  him.  He  was  reserved  and  cautious. 
For  eight  months  here  he  made  no  speeches  upon  any 
question  that  could  excite  the  animadversion  even  of  the 
sensitive  senator  from  South  Carolina.  He  made  a  brief 
speech  in  favor  of  the  system  of  granting  lands  for  con 
structing  railways  in  the  new  States,  which  the  people 
of  those  States  justly  applauded ;  and  I  will  undertake 
to  say  that  he  stated  the  whole  question  briefly,  fully, 
nud  powerfully.  He  also  made  a  brief  speech  welcom 
ing  Kossuth  to  the  United  States.  But,  beyond  the  pres 
entation  of  a  petition,  he  took  no  steps  to  press  his  earnest 
convictions  upon  the  Senate  ;  nor  did  he  say  any  thing 
which  could  by  possibility  disturb  the  most  excitable 
senator. 

"  On  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  July,  1852,  after  being  in 
this  body  eight  months,  Mr.  Sumner  introduced  a  propo 
sition  to  repeal  the  Fugitive-slave  Act.  Mr.  Sumner  and 
his  constituents  believed  that  act  to  be  not  only  a  viola 
tion  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  a  viola 
tion  of  all  the  safeguards  of  the  common  law  which  have 
been  garnered  up  for  centuries  to  protect  the  rights  of 
the  people,  but  at  war  with  Christianity,  humanity,  and 
human  nature,  —  an  enactment  that  is  bringing  upon  this 
republic  the  indignant  scorn  of  the  Christian  and  civil 
ized  world.  With  these  convictions  he  proposed  to  re 
peal  that  act,  as  he  had  a  right  to  propose.  He  had 
made  no  speech.  He  rose  and  asked  the  Senate  to  give 
him  the  privilege  of  making  a  speech.  '  Strike,  but 


EEPLY   TO  ME.   BUTLER.  195 

hear,'  said  he,  using  a  quotation.  I  do  not  know  that 
he  gave  the  authority  for  it.  Perhaps  the  senator  from 
South  Carolina  will  criticise  it  as  a  plagiarism,  as  he 
has  criticised  another  application  of  a  classical  passage-. 
Mr.  Simmer  asked  the  privilege  of  addressing  the  Senate. 
The  senator  from  South  Carolina,  who  now  tells  us  thai 
he  had  been  his  friend,  an  old  and  veteran  senator  here, 
instead  of  feeling  that  Mr.  Sumner  was  a  member  stand 
ing  almost  alone,  with  only  the  senator  from  New  York 
(Mr.  Seward),  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  (Mr. 
Hale),  and  Gk>v.  Chase  of  Ohio,  in  sympathy  with  him, 
objected  to  his  being  heard.  He  asked  Mr.  Sumner 
tauntingly  if  he  wished  to  make  an  '  oratorical  display,' 
and  talked  about  *  playing  the  orator '  and  '  the  part 
of  a  parliamentary  rhetorician.'  These  words,  in  their 
scope  and  in  their  character,  were  calculated  to  wound 
the  sensibilities  of  a  new  member,  and  perhaps  bring 
upon  him  what  is  often  brought  on  a  member  who  main 
tains  here  the  great  doctrines  of  Liberty  and  Christianity,, 
—  the  sneer  and  the  laugh  under  which  men  sometimes 
shrink. 

"  Tli us  was  Mr.  Summer,  before  he  had  ever  uttered  a 
word  on  the  subject  of  slavery  here,  arraigned  by  the- 
senator  from  South  Carolina,  not  for  what  he  ever  had 
said,  but  for  what  he  intended  to  say;  and  the  senator 
announced  that  he  must  oppose  his  speaking,  because  he 
would  attack  South  Carolina.  Mr.  Sumner  quietly  said 
tli^t  he  had  no  such  purpose ;  but  the  senator  did  not 
wish  to  allow  him  to  i  make  the  Senate  the  vehicle  of 
communication  for  his  speech  throughout  the  United 
States  to  wash  deeper  and  deeper  the  channel  through 
which  flow  the  angry  waters  of  agitation.' 

"  Now,  I  charge  here  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  and 


196  LIFE  OF   HENBY  WILSON. 

before  the  country,  that  the  senator  from  South  Carolina 
was  the  aggressor  ;  that  he  arraigned,  in  language  which 
no  man  can  defend,  my  colleague  before  he  ever  uttered 
a  word  on  this  subject  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  and  in 
the  face  of  his  express  disclaimer  that  he  had  no  purpose 
of  alluding  to  South  Carolina.  This  was  the  beginning." 

After  citing  other  instances  of  personal  insult  and 
abuse  with  which  Mr.  Butler  sought  to  blacken  Mr. 
Sumner,  Mr.  Wilson  says,  — 

"  He  again  talks  about '  sickly  sentimentality  ; '  and  he 
charges  that  this  *  sickly  sentimentality  now  governs  the 
councils  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.'  Yes, 
sir,  the  senator  from  South  Carolina  makes  five  distinct 
assaults  upon  Massachusetts.  Massachusetts  councils 
governed  by  sickly  sentimentality  !  Sir,  Massachusetts 
stands  to-day  where  she  stood  when  the  little  squad  as 
sembled  on  the  19th  of  April,  1775,  to  fire  the  first  gun 
of  the  Revolution.  The  sentiments  that  brought  those 
humble  men  to  the  little  green  at  Lexington,  and  to  the 
bridge  at  Concord ;  which  carried  them  up  the  slope  of 
Bunker  Hill ;  and  which  drove  forth  the  British  troops 
from  Boston,  never  again  to  press  the  soil  of  Massachu 
setts, —  that  sentiment  still  governs  the  councils  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  rules  in  the  hearts  of  her  people.  The 
feeling  which  governed  the  men  of  that  glorious  epoch 
of  our  history  is  the  feeling  of  the  men  of  Massachusetts 
of  to-day. 

"  Those  sentiments  of  liberty  and  patriotism  have  pen 
etrated  the  hearts  of  the  whole  population  of  that  Com 
monwealth.  Sir,  in  that  State,  every  man,  no  mattei 
what  blood  runs  in  his  veins,  or  what  may  be  the  color 
of  his  skin,  stands  up  before  the  law  the  peer  of  the 
proudest  that  treads  her  soil.  This  is  the  sentiment  of 


EEPLY  TO  MB.   BUTLER.  197 

the  people  of  Massachusetts.  In  equality  before  the  law 
they  find  their  strength.  They  know  this  to  be  right  if 
Christianity  is  true,  and  they  will  maintain  it  in  the 
future  as  they  have  in  the  past ;  and  the  civilized  world, 
the  coming  generations,  those  who  are  hereafter  to  give 
law  to  the  universe,  will  pronounce  that  in  this  contest 
Massachusetts  is  right,  inflexibly  right,  and  South  Caro 
lina  and  the  senator  from  South  Carolina  wrong.  The 
latter  are  maintaining  the  odious  relics  of  a  barbarous 
age  and  civilization,  —  not  the  civilization  of  the  New 
Testament,  not  the  civilization  that  is  now  blessing  and 
adorning  the  best  portions  of  the  world. 

"  c  We  cannot  be  hurt  by  attempted  assassination ! '  ex 
claims  the  senator  from  South  Carolina. 

"  Attempted  assassination  ? 

"  It  ill  becomes  the  senator  from  South  Carolina  to  use 
these  words  in  connection  with  Massachusetts  or  the 
North.  The  arms  of  Massachusetts  are  Freedom,  Justice, 
Truth.  Strong  in  these,  she  is  not  driven  to  the  ne 
cessity  of  resorting  to  '  attempted  assassination  '  either 
in  or  out  of  the  Senate. 

"  But  the  whole  story  is  not  yet  told.  I  wish  to  refer  to 
another  assault  made  by  the  senator,  which  I  witnessed 
myself  a  few  days  after  I  took  a  seat  in  this  body.  On 
the  23d  of  February,  1855,  on  one  of  the  last  days  of 
the  last  session,  to  the  bill  introduced  by  the  senator 
from  Connecticut  (Mr.  Toucey)  Mr.  Summer  moved  an 
amendment  providing  for  the  repeal  of  the  Fugitive- 
slave  Act.  He  made  some  remarks  in  support  of  that 
proposition.  The  senator  from  South  Carolina  rose  and 
interrupted  him,  saying,  '  I  would  ask  him  one  question, 
which  he  perhaps  will  not  answer  honestly.'  Mr.  Sum- 
ner  said, <  I  will  answer  any  question/  The  senator  went 

17* 


198  LIFE  OF  HENEY  WILSOK. 

on  to  ask  questions,  and  received  his  answers  ;  and  then 
he  said,  speaking  of  Mr.  Sumner,  4 1  know  he  is  not  a 
tactician,  and  I  shall  not  take  advantage  of  the  infirm 
ity  of  a  man  who  does  not  know  half  his  time  exactly 
what  he  is  about.'  This  is  indeed  extraordinary  lan 
guage  for  the  senator  from  South  Carolina  to  apply  to 
the  senator  from  Massachusetts.  I  witnessed  that  scene. 
I  then  deemed  the  language  insulting :  the  manner  was 
more  so.  I  hold  in  my  hands  the  remarks  of  '  The  Louis 
ville  Journal,'  a  Southern  press,  upon  this  scene.  I  shall 
not  read  them  to  the  Senate  ;  for  I  do  not  wish  to  present 
any  thing  which  the  senator  may  even  deem  offensive. 
I  will  say,  however,  that  his  language  and  his  deport 
ment  to  my  colleague  on  that  occasion  were  aggressive 
and  overbearing  in  the  extreme.  And  this  is  the  senatoi 
who  never  makes  assaults  !  But,  not  content  with  as 
saulting  Mr.  Sumner,  he  winds  up  his  speech  by  a  taunt 
at  4  Boston  philanthropy.'  Surely  no  person  ever  scat 
tered  assault  more  freely. 

"  Thus  has  Mr.  Sumner  been,  by  the  senator  from 
South  Carolina,  systematically  assailed  in  this  body  from 
the  28th  of  July,  1852,  up  to  the  present  time,  —  a 
period  of  nearly  four  years.  He  has  applied  to  my  col 
league  every  expression  calculated  to  wound  the  sensi 
bilities  of  an  honorable  man,  and  to  draw  down  upon  him 
sneers,  obloquy,  and  hatred,  in  and  out  of  the  Senate. 
In  my  place  here,  I  now  pronounce  these  continued 
assaults  upon  my  colleague  unparalleled  in  the  history 
of  the  Senate. 

"  I  come  now  to  speak  for  one  moment  of  the  late 
speech  of  my  colleague,  which  is  the  alleged  cause  of  the 
recent  assault  upon  him,  and  which  the  senator  from 
South  Carolina  has  condemned  so  abundantly.  That 


BEPLY  TO  MB.   BUTLER.  199 

speech,  —  a  thorough  and  fearless  exposition  of  what 
Mr.  Sunnier  entitled  the  *  Crime  against  Kansas,'  —  from 
beginning  to  end,  is  marked  by  entire  plainness.  Things 
are  called  by  their  right  names.  The  usurpation  in 
Kansas  is  exposed,  and  also  the  apologies  for  it,  succes 
sively.  No  words  were  spared  which  seemed  necessary 
to  the  exhibition.  In  arraigning  the  crime,  it  was 
natural  to  speak  of  those  who  sustained  it.  Accordingly, 
the  administration  is  constantly  held  up  to  condemna 
tion.  Various  senators  who  have  vindicated  this  crime 
are  at  once  answered  and  condemned.  Among  these 
are  the  senator  from  South  Carolina,  the  senator  from 
Illinois  (Mr.  Douglas),  the  senator  from  Virginia  (Mr. 
Mason),  and  the  senator  from  Missouri  (Mr.  Geyer). 
The  senator  from  South  Carolina  now  complains  of  Mr. 
S umner's  speech.  Surely  it  is  difficult  to  see  on  what 
ground  that  senator  can  make  any  such  complaint.  The 
speech  was  indeed  severe,  —  severe  as  truth,  —  but  in  all 
respects  parliamentary.  It  is  true  that  it  handles  the 
senator  from  South  Carolina  freely ;  but  that  senator  had 
spoken  repeatedly  in  the  course  of  the  Kansas  debate, 
once  at  length  and  elaborately,  and  at  other  times  more 
briefly,  foisting  himself  into  the  speeches  of  other  sena 
tors,  and  identifying  himself  completely  with  the  crime 
which  my  colleague  felt  it  his  duty  to  arraign.  It  was 
natural,  therefore,  that  his  course  in  the  debate,  and 
his  position,  should  be  particularly  considered.  And  in 
this  work  Mr.  Sumner  had  no  reason  to  hold  back,  when 
he  thought  of  the  constant  and  systematic  and  ruthless 
attacks,  which,  utterly  without  cause,  he  had  received 
from  that  senator.  The  only  objection  which  the  senator 
from  South  Carolina  can  reasonably  make  to  Mr.  Sumner 
is  that  he  struck  a  strong  blow. 


200  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSOF. 

"  The  senator  complains  that  the  speech  was  printed 
before  it  was  delivered.  Here,  again,  is  his  accustomed 
inaccuracy.  It  is  true  that  it  was  in  the  printers'  hands, 
and  was  mainly  in  type ;  but  it  received  additions  and 
revisions  after  its  delivery,  and  was  not  put  to  press  till 
then.  Away  with  this  petty  objection !  The  senator 
says  that  twenty  thousand  copies  have  gone  to  England. 
Here,  again,  is  his  accustomed  inaccuracy.  If  they  have 
gone,  it  is  without  Mr.  Sumner's  agency.  But  the 
senator  foresees  the  truth.  Sir,  that  speech  will  go  to 
England ;  it  will  go  to  the  continent  of  Europe ;  it  has 
gone  over  the  country,  and  has  been  read  by  the  Ameri 
can  people  as  no  speech  ever  delivered  in  this  body  wat 
read  before.  That  speech  will  go  down  to  coming  ages. 
Whatever  men  may  say  of  its  sentiments,  —  and  coming 
ages  will  indorse  them,  —  it  will  be  placed  among  the 
ablest  parliamentary  efforts  of  our  own  age,  or  of  any 
age. 

"  The  senator  from  South  Carolina  tells  us  that  the 
speech  is  to  be  condemned ;  and  he  quotes  the  venerable 
and  distinguished  senator  from  Michigan  (Mr.  Cass).  I 
do  not  know  what  Mr.  Sumner  could  stand.  The  sena 
tor  says  he  could  not  stand  the  censure  of  the  senator 
from  Michigan.  I  could;  and  I  believe  there  are  a  great 
many  in  this  country  whose  powers  of  endurance  are  as 
great  as  my  own.  I  have  great  respect  for  that  vener 
able  senator ;  but  the  opinions  of  no  senator  here  are 
potential  in  the  country.  This  is  a  Senate  of  equals. 
The  judgment  of  the  country  is  to  be  made  up  on  the 
records  formed  here.  The  opinions  of  the  senator  from 
Michigan,  and  of  other  senators  here,  are  to  go  into  the 
record,  and  will  receive  the  verdict  of  the  people.  By 
that  I  am  willing  to  stand. 


EEPLY  TO   ME.   BUTLEE.  201 

"  The  senator  from  South  Carolina  tells  us  that  the 
speech  is  to  be  condemned.  It  has  gone  out  to  the 
country.  It  has  been  printed  by  the  million.  It  has 
been  scattered  broadcast  amongst  seventeen  millions  of 
Northern  freemen  who  can  read  and  write.  The  senator 
condemns  it ;  South  Carolina  condemns  it.  But  South 
Carolina  is  only  a  part  of  this  Confederacy,  and  but  a 
part  of  the  Christian  and  civilized  world.  South  Caro 
lina  makes  rice  and  cotton  ;  but  South  Carolina  contrib 
utes  little  to  make  up  the  judgment  of  the  Christian 
and  civilized  world.  I  value  her  rice  and  cotton  more 
than  I  do  her  opinions  on  questions  of  scholarship  and 
eloquence,  of  patriotism  or  of  liberty. 

"  Mr.  President,,  I  have  no  desire  to  assail  the  senator 
from  South  Carolina,  or  any  other  senator  in  this  body; 
but  I  wish  to  say  now,  that  we  have  had  quite  enough  of 
this  asserted  superiority,  social  and  political.  We  were 
told  some  time  ago  by  the  senator  from  Alabama  (Mr. 
Clay),  that  those  of  us  who  entertained  certain  senti 
ments  fawned  upon  him  and  other  Southern  men  if  they 
permitted  us  to  associate  with  them.  This  is  strange 
language  to  be  used  in  this  body.  I  never  fawned  upon 
that  senator.  I  never  sought  his  acquaintance  ;  and  I  do 
not  know  that  I  should  feel  myself  honored  if  I  had  it. 
I  treat  him  as  an  equal  here ;  I  wish  always  to  treat  him 
respectfully  :  but,  when  he  tells  -me  or  my  friends  that  we 
fawn  upon  him  or  his  associates,  I  say  to  him  that  I  have 
never  sought,  and  never  shall  seek,  any  other  acquaint 
ance  than  what  official  intercourse  requires  with  a  man 
who  declared  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  that  he  would  do 
what  Henry  Clay  once  said  <  no  gentleman  would  do,'  — 
hunt  a  fugitive  slave. 

"  The  senator  from  Virginia,  not  now  in  his  seat  (Mr. 


202  LIFE   OF   HEimY  WILSON. 

Mason),  when  Mr.  Sumner  closed  his  speech,  saw  fit  to 
tell  the  Senate  that  his  hands  would  be  soiled  by  contact 
with  ours.  The  senator  is  not  here  :  I  wish  he  were.  I 
have  simply  to  say  that  I  know  nothing  in  that  senator, 
moral,  intellectual,  or  physical,  which  entitles  him  to  use 
such  language  towards  members  of  the  Senate,  or  any 
portion  of  God's  creation.  I  know  nothing  in  the  State 
from  which  he  comes,  rich  as  it  is  in  the  history  of  the 
past,  that  entitles  him  to  speak  in  such  a  manner.  I  am 
not  here  to  assail  Virginia :  God  knows  I  have  not  a 
feeling  in  my  heart  against  her  or  against  her  public  men. 
But  I  do  say,  it  is  time  that  these  arrogant  assumptions 
ceased  here.  This  is  no  place  for  assumed  social  supe 
riority,  as  though  certain  senators  held  the  keys  of  culti 
vated  and  refined  society.  Sir,  they  do  not  hold  the 
keys,  and  they  shall  not  hold  over  me  the  plantation- 
whip. 

"  I  wish  always  to  speak  kindly  towards  every  man  in 
this  body.  Since  I  came  here,  I  have  never  asked  an 
introduction  to  a  Southern  member  of  the  Senate  ;  not 
because  I  have  any  feelings  against  them  (for  God  knows 
I  have  not)  ;  but  I  knew  that  they  believed  I  held  opinions 
hostile  to  their  interests,  and  I  supposed  they  would  not 
desire  my  society.  I  have  never  wished  to  obtrude  my 
self  on  their  society,  so  that  certain  senators  could  do 
with  me  as  they  have  boasted  they  did  with  others, — 
refuse  to  receive  their  advances,  or  refuse  to  recognize 
them  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate.  Sir,  there  is  not  a 
cooly  in  the  guano  islands  of  Peru  who  does  not  think 
the  Celestial  Empire  the  whole  universe.  There  are  a 
great  many  men,  who  have  swung  the  whip  over  the  plan 
tation,  w~ho  think  they  not  only  rule  the  plantation,  but 
make  up  the  judgment  of  the  world,  and  hold  the  keys 


REPLY  TO   MR.   BUTLER.  203 

not  only  to  political  power,  as  they  have  done  in  this 
country,  but  to  social  life. 

"  The  senator  from  South  Carolina  assails  tl  e  reso 
lutions  of  my  State  with  his  accustomed  looseness,  as 
springing  from  ignorance,  passion,  prejudice,  excitement. 
Sir,  the  testimony  before  the  House  committee  sustains 
all  that  is  contained  in  those  resolutions.  I  know  Mas 
sachusetts  ;  and  I  can  tell  him,  that,  of  the  twelve  hun 
dred  thousand  people  of  Massachusetts,  you  cannot  find 
in  the  State  one  thousand,  administration  office-holders 
included,  who  do  not  look  with  loathing  and  execra 
tion  upon  the  outrage  on  the  person  of  their  senator  and 
the  honor  of  their  State.  The  sentiment  of  Massachu 
setts,  of  New  England,  of  the  North,  approaches  unani 
mity.  Massachusetts  has  spoken  her  opinions.  The 
senator  is  welcome  to  assail  them,  if  he  chooses  ;  but 
they  are  on  the  record.  They  are  made  up  by  the  verdict 
of  her  people  ;  and  they  understand  the  question  ;  and 
from  their  verdict  there  is  no  appeal." 

After  this  speech  of  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Butler  indulged 
in  some  discursive  remarks,  and  ended  by  saying,  — 

"  As  I  suppose  the  senator  (Mr.  Wilson)  is  to  be  con 
sidered,  in  some  sense,  the  historian  of  his  State,  I  desire 
to  ask  him  how  many  battles  were  fought  in  Massachu 
setts  during  the  Revolutionary  war." 

Mr.  WILSON.  —  "I  will  answer  the  senator.  The  bat 
tles  fought  in  Massachusetts  during  the  Revolution  were 
few,  because  they  were  not  necessary.  Our  Massachu 
setts  men  met  the  enemy  at  Lexington,  at  Concord 
Bridge,  at  Bunker  Hill,  and  on  the  heights  of  Dorchester. 
They  would  have  met  them  on  every  spot  in  Massachu 
setts  ;  but  the  enemy  took  good  care  right  early  to  get 
ami  keep  out  of  that  State. 


204  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

"  The  senator  said  yesterday,  as  I  understood  him,  that 
'  South  Carolina  had  shed  hogsheads  of  blood  where 
Massachusetts  had  shed  gallons  '  during  the  Revolution." 

Mr.  BUTLER.  —  "  On  the  battle-fields  of  the  two  States." 

Mr.  W-ILSON.  —  "I  heard  no  such  limitation.  I  under 
stood  the  senator  to  mean  that  South  Carolina  had  con 
tributed  hogsheads  of  the  blood  of  her  sons,  where  Massa 
chusetts  had  only  contributed  gallons,  to  the  Revolution. 
Sir,  South  Carolina  furnished  five  thousand  five  hundred 
soldiers ;  Massachusetts,  sixty-nine  thousand  ;  and  they 
drove  the  enemy,  and  followed  the  enemy,  and  met  the 
enemy  on  the  battle-fields  of  the  Revolution,  from  the 
northern  to  the  southern  boundaries  of  the  republic,  from 
the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  St.  Mary's.  There  were  but  few 
battles  fought  on  the  soil  of  Massachusetts,  for  the  reason 
that  the  enemy  thought  it  was  safer  to  leave  Massa 
chusetts,  and  go  to  South  Carolina.  The  British  army 
thought  it  was  not  safe  to  be  very  near  the  battle-fields  of 
Concord,  of  Lexington,  and  of  Bunker  Hill ;  and  it  left 
Massachusetts,  and  took  good  care  to  keep  out  of  a  Com 
monwealth  where  friends  always  find  a  welcome,  and  foes 
are  apt  to  find  a  grave. 

"  During  the  Revolution,  a  portion  of  the  people  of 
South  Carolina  —  the  Gadsdens,  the  Rutledges,  the  Lau- 
renses,  the  Sumters,  the  Marions — made  as  great  sacri 
fices  for  the  cause  of  independence  as  any  patriots  in  any 
portion  of  the  land  ;  but  the  fact  cannot  be  denied,  —  and 
all  these  patriots,  including  even  Marion,  convict  South 
Carolina  of  the  fact,  —  that  she  had  a  large  lot  of  Tories. 
There  was  a  civil  war  in  that  State  ;  and,  more  than  that, 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  her  sons  sought  pro 
tection  under  the  British  flag.  When  the  army  of  Greene 
was  starving,  the  British  army  in  Charleston  was  receiving 


EEPLY  TO  ME.   BUTLER.  205 

all  that  the  fertile  valleys  of  South  Carolina  could  pro 
duce,  carry  into  Charleston,  and  exchange  for  British 
gold.  When  Greene  and  his  patriot  army  wanted  oxen 
and  horses  to  carry  supplies,  they  were  hustled  off  int<r 
the  forest  by  people  who  had,  to  quote  the  words  of 
Gen.  Greene  to  Gen.  Barnwell, '  far  greater  attachment  to 
their  interests  than  zeal  for  the  service  of  their  country.' ' 

Mr.  BUTLER.  — "  Let  me  ask  the  gentleman  who  fed 
Greene's  army  at  that  time." 

Mr.  WILSON.  —  "  <  Who  fed  Greene's  army?'  That 
army  was  hardly  fed  at  all :  at  any  rate,  it  was  but  poorly 
fed,  and  scantily  clothed.  I  apprehend,  sir,  that  Greene's 
army  —  like  the  schoolboy's  whistle,  that  whistled  itself — 
fed  itself. 

"  I  have  no  disposition  to  assail  the  senator's  State.  I 
should  blush  if  I  could  say  aught  against  the  patriots  of 
South  Carolina,  or  even  cease  to  feel  gratitude  for  their 
efforts,  their  prompt  response  to  the  patriots  of  my  own 
State,  in  the  early  days  of  the  Revolution.  But,  sir,  Gads- 
den,  Burke,  Marion,  Ramsay,  Barnwell,  and  the  patriots 
of  that  period,  have  borne  this  evidence,  —that  South  Car 
olina  was  weakened  in  that  contest  by  the  existence  of 
slavery.  That  was  what  Mr.  Sumner  charged,  and,  on  a 
former  occasion,  demonstrated  ;  and  that,  I  take  it,  no 
man  here  or  elsewhere  can  deny. 

"  The  senator  tells  us  that  he  has  complimented  the 
battle-fields  of  Massachusetts,  —  the  fields  of  Lexington, 
Concord,  and  Bunker  Hill.  That  senator,  and  the  con 
stituents  of  that  senator,  can  stand  upon  those  sacred 
spots,  and  breathe  something  of  the  spirit  of  liberty  that 
makes  them  immortal ;  he  can  utter  his  sentiments,  — 
sentiments  so  little  in  harmony  with  the  gallant  dead 
that  sleep  beneath  those  hallowed  sods,  or  the  living  who 

18 


206  LIFE   OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

now  guard  them  under  the  protection  of  law  and  a  pub 
lic  sentiment  nurtured  and  sustained  by  free  speech.  I 
should  be  proud  to  tread  the  battle-fields  of  South  Caro 
lina,  hallowed  by  patriot  blood.  Yes,  sir,  it  would  afford 
me  intense  gratification  to  stand  upon  those  stricken 
fields,  so  dear  to  every  true  American  heart ;  but  I  do 
not  know  that  I  could  do  so  without  suppressing  those 
cherished  sentiments  of  liberty,  for  the  vindication  of 
which  patriot  blood  was  poured  out  at  Camden,  Guilford, 
Eutaw,  and  Hobkirk  Hill. 

"  But  all  these  allusions  and  reflections  upon  the  his 
tory  of  the  past  afford  me  no  gratification.  I  say  to  the 
senator  from  South  Carolina,  that  he  and  I  and  all  of 
us  had  far  better  turn  from  the  past,  cease  to  reflect 
upon  the  services  of  our  States  in  the  Revolutionary  era, 
and  deal  with  the  living  questions  which  we  must  meet 
in  this  age,  —  questions  that  have  great  issues,  involving 
the  interests  of  our  common  country  and  the  rights  of 
human  nature.  He  and  I  and  all. of  us  here  ought  to 
strive  to  settle  these  great  issues  for  the  good  of  our  com 
mon  country,  and  the  whole  people  of  the  country,  bond 
and  free." 

Many  letters  of  congratulation  were  received  after  the 
delivery  of  this  speech,  and  among  them  one  from  the 
patriotic  poet  J.  G.  Whittier,  in  which  he  says,  — 

"  Thy  reply  to  Butler  after  the  outrage  upon  our  noble 
friend  Sumner  was  eminently  '  the  right  word  in  the 
right  place.' ' 

The  departure  of  Mr.  Sumner  from  the  Senate  (from 
which  he  was  absent  several  years)  left  a  heavier  burden 
upon  Mr.  Wilson  ;  yet  with  dauntless  vigor  he  pressed 
on,  meeting  the  Southern  members  with  a  clear  head  and 
lion  heart  on  the  great  questions  then  at  issue,  and  repel- 


KANSAS.  207 

ling  by  unanswerable  arguments  the  assaults  upon  the 
North. 

He  would  not  interfere  with  slavery  in  the  Southern 
States ;  but  with  invincible  determination  he  stood  op 
posed  to  its  extension  over  the  Territories  of  the  West, 
and  to  the  doctrine  of  the  "  squatter  sovereignty  "  ad 
vanced  by  Mr.  Douglas,  and  maintained  by  the  pro- 
slavery  propagandists. 

In  a  noble  speech,  July  9,  on  a  report  for  printing  twen 
ty  thousand  extra  copies  of  the  bill  to  enable  Kansas  to 
form  a  constitution,  he  said,  — 

"  Sir,  for  framing  this  constitution,  this  free  consti 
tution,  for  organizing  under  it  a  State  government,  and 
choosing  senators  to  urge  its  adoption  here,  the  people  of 
Kansas  have  been  denounced  as  '  traitors '  by  the  senator 
from  Illinois  and  those  who  follow  his  lead  in  and  out  of 
the  Senate.  This  chamber  has  rung  with  your  words  of 
rebuke,  denunciation,  and  reproof  of  the  people  of  Kansas, 
whose  only  crime  is  devotion  to  freedom,  resistance  to 
the  monstrous  tyranny  of  usurped  power.  I  charge  upon 
the  administration  the  crime  of  abandoning  the  people  of 
Kansas  to  the  merciless  rule  of  their  conquerors.  Ay, 
sir,  I  go  farther,  and  I  charge  upon  the  administration 
and  upon  its  supporters  here  the  crime  of  aiding  and 
abetting  their  conquerors  in  their  unhallowed  deeds. 

"  Mr.  President,  the  administration  and  its  supporters  — 
the  senators  from  Illinois,  Pennsylvania,  and  Georgia  — 
snatched  Kansas  from  the  exclusive  possession  of  the  free 
laboring-men  of  the  republic,  North  and  South,  and  flung 
it  open  to  the  footprints  of  the  slave  and  his  master.  You 
deluded  the  people  with  the  idea  of  popular  sovereignty : 
you  have  seen  that  sovereignty  cloven  down  by  invading 
hordes  of  armed  men  ;  you  have  seen  the  people  robbed 


208  LIFE  OP  HEKEY  WILSOK. 

of  their  rights,  and  oppressed  ;  you  have  seen  them  strug 
gle  to  recover  their  lost  rights ;  and  in  all  their  wrongs 
and  struggles  you  have  basely  abandoned  them  ;  ay,  you 
have  joined  their  oppressors,  and  aided  them  in  the  enforce 
ment  of  their  usurped  powers  and  unhallowed  decrees. 
Sir,  I  hold  the  administration,  I  hold  the  majority  here, 
I  hold  the  Democratic  party,  up  to  the  ster.n  verdict  of  the 
civilized  world  for  this  abandonment  of  the  people  of 
Kansas,  this  collusion  with  their  oppressors. 

"  The  people  of  Kansas,  Mr.  President,  have  not  only 
been  defrauded  of  their  legal  and  political  rights,  op 
pressed  by  laws  imposed  upon  them  by  foreign  force,  and 
denied  all  redress,  but  they  have  been  invaded,  hunted 
down,  by  armed  bands  of  thieving  marauders,  their  dwell 
ings  burned,  their  property  stolen,  and  many  of  their 
number  treated  with  personal  violence,  and  some  of  them 
brutally  murdered.  Dwellings  have  been  battered  with 
cannon,  houses  have  been  fired,  presses  destroyed,  oxen, 
horses,  and  other  property,  stolen,  and  men  foully  mur 
dered  ;  and  the  administration  and  its  officials  in  the 
Territory  have  no  time  to  spare  from  the  infamous  work 
of  subduing  the  friends  of  free  Kansas  for  the  arrest  and 
punishment  of  the  men  who  have  illumined  the  midnight 
skies  with  the  lurid  light  of  sacked  and  burning  dwellings 
of  the  people,  —  men  who  have  inaugurated  the  era  of 
robbery,  violence,  and  murder." 

In  enumerating  the  outrages  committed  upon  the 
peaceable  citizens  of  Kansas,  he  held  up  a  musket-ball  to 
the  Senate,  and  touchingly  said,  — 

"  The  ball  I  hold  in  my  hand  was  shot  through  a  boy 
eighteen  years  old,  the  son  of  a  widow.  On  his  way 
home  from  Westport,  Mo.,  he  was  stopped  by  these  gentry 
who  keep  guard  over  the  passes  into  the  Territory,  and 


NO  SUPPLIES  FOB   SUBJUGATING  KANSAS.         209 

required  to  give  up  what  he^  had.  He  gave  up  his  arms. 
They  then  required  him  to  give  up  his  horse  ;  but  he  told 
them  he  would  not  do  it.  For  that  he  was  shot  down  ; 
and  this  ball  was  taken  out  of  his  lifeless  body  by  a  friend 
of  mine." 

In  an  effective  speech  in  the  Senate,  Aug.  27,  against 
sending  military  supplies  to  subjugate  freemen  in  Kansas, 
he  said,  — 

"  Let  the  army  be  disbanded  forever  rather  than  enforce 
those  infamous  enactments  or  uphold  the  usurpation  in 
Kansas.  Almost  every  township  of  the  North  has  furnished 
actual  settlers  to  Kansas.  Are  senators  on  the  other  side 
infatuated  enough  to  believe  that  the  people  will  sustain 
them  in  their  career  of  madness  in  forcing  down  the 
throats  of  their  kindred  and  friends,  with  the  sabre  and 
bayonet,  these  enactments  ?  When  the  brutal  boast  of 
the  British  officer,  that  he  would  cram  the  stamps  down 
the  throats  of  our  fathers  with  the  hilt  of  his  sword,  is 
applauded  by  their  descendants,  then,  and  not  till  then, 
will  the  people  of  the  free  States  applaud  your  efforts  to 
cram  these  unchristian,  inhuman,  and  fiendish  laws  down 
the  throats  of  their  brethren  in  distant  Kansas  with  the 
sabre  of  the  dragoon,  —  enactments  which  the  senator 
from  Delaware  (Mr.  Clayton)  declares  would  send  even 
John  C.  Calhoun  to  the  penitentiary." 

18* 


CHAPTER    XL 

NOMINATION    OF    MR.    FREMONT.  NORTHERN    SENTIMENT. 

DEFENCE    OF    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  VISIT   TO    CAN 
ADA.  CONGRESSIONAL    CAREER,    1857. LETTERS. 


Philadelphia  Convention,  1856. — Platform.  —  The  Campaign.  —  Sons  of  New 
Hampshire.  —  South  for  the  Dissolution  of  the  Union.  —  Kansas  and  Nebras 
ka  Bill.  —  Speech  on  the  Republican  Party.  —  Opening  of  the  Grand-Trunk 
Railroad.  — Speech  at  Montreal. —Activity  in  the  United-States  Senate. — 
Measures  proposed.  —  Speech  on  the  Lecompton  Constitution.  —  Letter  from 
the  Hon.  George  T.  Bigelow;  also  from  the  Hon.  G.  R.  Russell. 


JOHN  0.  FREMONT  was  nominated  as  the  Republi 
can  candidate  for  president  in  the  convention  held  at 
Philadelphia,  June  17, 1856,  on  a  platform  opposing  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  the  extension  of 
slavery  into  the  free  Territories,  the  policy  of  the  pro- 
slavery  administration  of  Mr.  Pierce,  and  in  favor  of  a 
railroad  to  the  Pacific,  and  the  admission  of  Kansas  as 
a  free  State  into  the  Union.  Mr.  Wilson,  though  not  a 
delegate,  was  present  at  the  convention,  where  he  was 
most  cordially  received,  and  where  he  brought  forward 
Mr.  Dayton  for  vice-president.  On  his  return  from  Con 
gress,  he  went  into  the  presidential  contest  with  his  usual 
ardor,  delivering  powerful  speeches  before  immense 
audiences,  in  which  he  rebuked  the  aggressive  spirit 
of  the  South  and  the  pusillanimity  of  the  administra- 
210 


NORTHERN  SENTIMENT.  211 

lion,  and  developed  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party. 

In  a  festival  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire,  held  at 
Natick  Aug.  18,  he  was  greeted  with  tremendous  ap 
plause,  and  his  senatorial  course  commended.  The  in 
dignity  cast  on  Massachusetts  by  the  dastardly  assault  on 
Mr.  Stunner,  and  the  arrogance  of  the  border  ruffians, 
were  converting  rapidly  her  conservatives  to  Republi 
canism  ;  and  great  enthusiasm  for  the  liberal  candidates 
was  manifested,  especially  by  the  working-people. 

It  was  generally  admitted  that  Mr.  Fremont  would  be 
elected;  and  mutterings  were  heard,  that,  in  such  event, 
the  South  would  dissolve  the  Union.  Senator  Butler 
said,  "  If  he  should  be  chosen,  I  shall  advise  my  legisla 
ture  to  go  at  the  tap  of  the  drum ; "  and  Mr.  Toombs  of 
Georgia,  that  "  the  Union  would  be  dissolved,  and  ought 
to  be  dissolved." 

But  the  action  of  the  third  party  in  the  nomination  of 
Mr.  Fillmore  brought  James  Buchanan  into  the  execu 
tive  chair.  The  large  vote  cast,  however,  for  the  Republi 
can  candidate,  revealed  the  strength  of  the  party,  the 
sentiment  of  the  North,  and  abundantly  repaid  the  exer 
tion  which  the  contest  cost. 

On  entering  Congress  in  December,  Mr.  Wilson  intro 
duced  a  bill  to  organize  the  Territory  of  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  on  the  16th  inst.  ;  and  on  the  19th  made  a 
speech  of  masterly  ability  in  defence  of  the  acts  and 
principles  of  his  organization,  which  had  an  immense  cir 
culation  through  the  country,  and  fully  sustained  his 
reputation  as  an  orator,  a  statistician,  and  a  statesman. 
In  it  he  said, — 

"  On  the  4th  of  November  last,  more  than  thirteen 
hundred  thousand  men,  intelligent,  patriotic,  liberty* 


212  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

loving,  law-abiding  citizens  of  New  England,  the  great 
Central  States,  and  of  the  North-west,  holding  with  our 
republican  fathers  that  all  men  are  created  equal,  and 
have  an  inalienable  right  to  liberty  ;  that  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  was  ordained  and  established  to 
secure  that  inalienable  right  everywhere  under  its  exclu 
sive  authority ;  denying  '  the  authority  of  Congress,  of  a 
Territorial  legislature,  of  any  individual,  or  association  of 
individuals,  to  give  legal  existence  to  slavery  in  any  Terri 
tory  of  the  United  States  while  the  present  Constitution 
shall  be  maintained,' —  pronounced  through  the  ballot-box 
that  '  the  Constitution  confers  upon  Congress  sovereign 
power  over  the  Territories  of  the  United  States  ;  and  that, 
in  the  exercise  of  this  power,  it  is  both  the  right  and  the 
duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit  in  the  Territories  those 
twin  relics  of  barbarism,  polygamy  and  slavery.'  Believ 
ing  with  Franklin,  that '  slavery  is  an  atrocious  debase 
ment  of  human  nature  ; '  with  Adams,  that  *  consenting  to 
slavery  is  a  sacrilegious  breach  of  trust ; '  with  Jefferson, 
that '  one  hour  of  American  slavery  is  fraught  with  more 
misery  than  ages  of  that  which  we  rose  in  rebellion  to 
oppose  ; '  with  Madison,  that '  slavery  is  a  dreadful  calam 
ity,'  —  that  *  imbecility  is  ever  attendant  upon  a  country 
filled  with  slaves  ; '  with  Monroe,  that '  slavery  has  preyed 
on  the  vitals  of  the  community  in  all  the  States  where 
it  has  existed  ; '  with  Montesquieu,  'that  even  the  very 
earth,  which  teems  with  profusion  under  the  cultivat 
ing  hand  of  the  free-born  laborer,  shrinks  into  barren 
ness  from  the  contaminating  sweat  of  a  slave/  —  they 
pronounced  their  purpose  to  be  to  save  Kansas,  now  in 
peril,  and  all  the  Territories  of  the  republic,  for  the  free 
laboring-men  of  the  North  and  the  South,  their  chi'dven, 
and  their  children's  children,  forever. 


DEFENCE  OF  REPUBLICAN  PARTY.       213 

"  Accepting  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  as  their  political  charts  ; 
avowing  their  purposes  to  be  to  maintain  the  Constitu 
tion,  the  Federal  Union,  and  the  rights  of  the  States ; 
proclaiming  everywhere  their  purpose  not  to  make  war 
upon  the  South,  not  to  interfere  with  the  legal  and  con 
stitutional  rights  of  the  people  of  any  of  the  States, — 
they  gave  their  votes  with  the  profoundest  conviction  that 
they  were  discharging  the  duties  sanctioned  by  humanity, 
patriotism,  and  religion." 

He  thus  denied  the  charges  of  the  president :  — 
"Assuming,  Mr.  President,  that  his  policy  has  been 
sanctioned  by  the  election,  the  president  proceeds  to 
accuse  more  than  thirteen  hundred  thousand  Ameri 
can  citizens  of  an  attempt  to  organize  a  sectional  party, 
and  usurp  the  government  of  the  country.  He  pro 
ceeds  to  arraign  more  than  thirteen  hundred  thousand 
citizens  of  the  free  North,  and  to  charge  them  with 
forming  associations  of  individuals, '  who,  pretending  to 
seek  only  to  prevent  the  spread  of  slavery  into  the  pres 
ent  or  future  inchoate  States,  are  really  inflamed  with  a 
desire  to  change  the  domestic  institutions  of  existing 
States ; '  with  seeking  6  an  object  which  they  well  know 
to  be  a  revolutionary  one  ; '  with  entering  '  a  path  which 
leads  nowhere,  unless  it  be  to  civil  war  and  disunion ; ' 
with  being  i  perfectly  aware  that  the  only  path  to  the  ac 
complishment  '  of  the  change  they  seek  '  is  through  burn 
ing  cities  and  ravaged  fields  and  slaughtered  populations ; ' 
with  endeavoring  'to  prepare  the  people  of  the  United 
States  for  civil  war,  by  doing  every  thing  in  their  power  to 
deprive  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  of  moral  authority, 
and  to  undermine  the  fabric  of  the  Union  by  appeals  to 
passion  and  sectional  prejudice,  by  indoctrinating  its  peo- 


214  LIFE   OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

pie  with  reciprocal  hatred,  and  by  educating  tLem  U  stand 
face  to  face  as  enemies.' 

"  Sir,  I  deny  each,  every  one,  ay,  all,  of  these  charges. 
There  is  not  the  semblance  of  truth  in  them.  If  the 
serpent  that  stole  into  Eden,  that  beguiled  our  first  mother, 

which  the  angels 

<  Found 
Squat  like  a  toad  at  the  ear  of  Eve,' 

had  glided  into  the  executive  mansion,  that  serpent  could 
not  have  hissed  into  the  president's  ear  words  more  skil 
fully  adapted  to  express  the  precise  and  exact  opposite  of 
truth.  Sir,  these  accusations  against  as  intelligent  and 
patriotic  men  as  ever  rallied  around  the  standard  of  Free 
dom  are  untruthful  and  malignant,  showing  that  the 
shafts  hurled  in  the  conflict  through  which  we  have  just 
passed  rankle  in  his  bosom." 

Of  the  issues  and  the  real  agitator  he  said,  — 
"  Surely  senators  cannot  be  surprised  at  the  discussion 
of  questions  so  vast  as  those  which  grow  out  of  the  slavery 
of  nearly  four  millions  of  men  in  America.  American 
slavery,  our  connections  with  it,  and  our  relations  to  it, 
and  the  obligations  these  connections  and  relations  impose 
upon  us  as  men,  as  citizens  of  the  States  and  the  United 
States,  make  up  the  overshadowing  issues  of  the  age  in 
which  we  live.  Philanthropists,  who  have  sounded  the 
depths  and  shoals  of  humanity ;  scholars,  who  have  laid 
under  contribution  the  domain  of  matter  and  of  mind, 
of  philosophic  inquiry  and  historical  research ;  statesmen, 
who  are  impressing  their  genius  upon  the  institutions 
of  their  country  and  their  age,  —  all  are  now  illustrat 
ing,  by  their  genius,  learning,  and  eloquence,  the  vast 
and  complicated  issues  involved  in  the  great  problems  we 
of  this  ago,  in  America,  are  working  out.  The  transcend- 


DEFENCE  OF  REPUBLICAN  PAKTY.       215 

ent  magnitude  of  the  interests  involved  in  the  existence 
and  expansion  of  the  system  of  human  bondage  in  Ameri 
ca  is  arresting  the  attention  of  the  people,  and  stirring 
the  country  to  its  profoundest  depths. 

"  The  senator  from  Tennessee  (Mr.  Jones)  quoted  a 
remark  of  mine,  to  the  effect  that  this  agitation  of  the 
slavery  question  would  never  cease  while  the  soil  of  the 
republic  should  be  trod  by  the  foot  of  a  slave.  That  sen 
timent  I  repeat  here  to-day.  I  believe  it.  GOD  is  the  great 
agitator.  While  his  throne  stands,  agitation  will  go  on 
until  the  foot  of  a  slave  shall  not  press  the  soil  of  the  East 
ern  or  Western  continent." 

Of  the  Union  sentiment  of  his  party  he  remarked,  — 
"  Then  we  are  charged  in  the  message  with  having  en 
tered  upon  a  path  which  has  no  possible  outlet  but  dis 
union.  When  the  Republican  party  was  organized,  the 
avowal  was  made  that  the  Union  must  be  maintained. 
The  declaration  of  Mr.  Webster,  6  Liberty  and  Union, 
now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable ; '  the  declaration  of 
Andrew  Jackson, '  The  Union  must  be  preserved,' — were 
borne  throughout  the  canvass  on  all  our  banners.  In  the 
public  press,  and  before  the  people  everywhere,  the  doc 
trine  was  maintained  that  we  were  for  the  Union ;  and  if 
any  men,  North  or  South,  laid  their'  hands  upon  it,  they 
should  die,  if  we  had  the  power,  traitor  deaths,  and  leave 
traitor  names  in  the  history  of  the  republic." 

He  thus  rebuked  the  sneer  of  "  bleeding  Kansas :  " — 
"  Sir,  the  senator  from  Texas  spoke  sneeringly  of 
'  bleeding  Kansas.'  Throughout  the  canvass,  our  efforts 
in  favor  of  making  Kansas  a  free  State,  and  protecting  the 
legal  rights  of  the  people,  were  sneered  at  as  '  shrieks  for 
Freedom '  and  for  '  bleeding  Kansas.'  I  remember  that 
on  the  evening  when  the  news  came  to  New  York  that 


216  LIFE   OF   HENftY  WILSON. 

Pennsylvania  was  carried,  in  October,  the  Empire  Club 
came  out  with  cannon,  banners,  and  transparencies.  The 
Five  Points,  where  the  waves  of  abolition  fanaticism  have 
never  reached,  —  the  inhabitants  of  that  locality,  like  the 
people  of  the  Lower  Egypt  of  the  West,  stood  fifty  to  one 
by  the  Democracy ;  the  Five  Points  and  the  Sixth  Ward 
were  out ;  and  upon  a  transparency,  borne  through  the 
streets  of  the  great  commercial  capital  of  the  Western 
world,  was  the  picture  of  three  scourged  black  men  ;  and 
on  that  transparency  were  the  words, '  Bleeding  Kansas.' 
I  thought  then  that  it  was  a  degradation  which  had 
reached  the  profoundest  depths  of  humiliation ;  but  even 
that  degradation  has  been  surpassed  here  in  the  national 
capital.  In  that  procession  which  passed  along  these  ave 
nues  but  a  few  evenings  before  we  came  here  —  a  proces 
sion  formed  under  the  immediate  eyes  of  the  chiefs  of  the 
executive  departments  of  the  government,  and  filled  with 
their  retainers,  led  by  government  officials  —  was  borne 
upon  a  transparency  the  words, '  Sumner  and  Kansas,  — 
let  them  bleed  ! ' 

"  The  senator  from  Texas  may  sneer,  and  others  may 
sneer,  at  '  bleeding  Kansas  ; '  but  I  tell  him  one  thing,  — 
that  the  next  day  at  ten  o'clock,  after  the  presidential 
election,  there  was  an  assemblage  of  men,  continuing 
through  two  days,  in?  the  city  of  Boston,  from  several 
States,  and  from '  bleeding  Kansas,'  —  men,  some  of  whom 
you  guarded  through  the  summer,  months  for  treason,  — 
assembled  together  to  take  measures  to  save  Kansasj  and 
I  assure  that  senator,  and  others  who  may  think  this 
struggle  for  Kansas  is  ended  with  the  election,  that  more 
money  has  been  contributed  since  that  election  than  dur 
ing  any  three  months  of  the  whole  controversy.  Thou 
sands  of  garments  have  been  sent  to  clothe  that  suffering 


DEFENCE  OF  REPUBLICAN   PARTY.  217 

people.  We  have  resolved,  —  and  we  mean  to  keep  that 
resolution,  —  that  if  by  any  lawful  effort,  any  personal 
sacrifice,  Kansas  can  be  saved  to  Freedom,  it  shall  be 
saved  in  spite  of  your  present  administration,  or  any 
thing  that  your  incoming  administration  can  do." 

Respecting  freedom  of  speech,  he  spoke  as  follows  :  — 
"  But  we  are  charged  by  the  president  with  inculcating 
a  spirit  which  would  lead  the  people  of  the  North  and 
South  to  stand  face  to  face  as  enemies.  Sir,  I  repel  that 
charge  as  utterly  and  wholly  false.  There  is  no  such 
feeling  in  the  Northern  States  towards  the  people  of  the 
South.  But  a  few  months  ago,  the  senator  from  Georgia 
(Mr.  Toombs),  whose  views  upon  this  question  of  slavery 
are  known  to  be  extremely  ultra,  went  to  the  city  of  Bos 
ton,  and  lectured  before  one  of  the  most  intelligent  audi 
ences  that  ever  assembled  in  that  section  of  our  country. 
He  was  received  by  all  with  that  courtesy  and  that  kind 
ness  of  feeling  which  every  Southern  man  who  visits  that 
section  receives,  and  to  which  they  bear  testimony.  Mr. 
Benton  is  in  the  North  now,  lecturing  in  favor  of  the 
Union,  —  'carrying  coals  to  Newcastle.'  He  is  every 
where  sought  after,  everywhere  listened  to,  everywhere 
treated  kindly,  although  he  holds  views  in  regard  to  sla 
very  that  not  one  man  in  ten  thousand  in  that  section, 
Approves. 

"  Can  we  utter  in  the  South  the  words  which  the 
fathers  of  the  South  taught  us?  Could  the  senator  from 
New  York  (Mr.  Fish),  whose  father  fought  at  Yorktown,, 
go  to  that  field,  and  utter  the  sentiments  which  were  upon 
the  lips  of  all  the  great  men  of  Virginia  when  Cornwallis 
surrendered  ?  Could  the  senators  from  New  Hampshire 
stand  on  that  spot  once  baptized  by  the  blood  of  Alexan 
der  Scammell,  and  there  utter  the  sentiments  of  Henry, 

19 


218  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

or  of  Jefferson,  or  of  Mason  ?  Could  one  of  us  go  down 
to  Mount  Yernon,  which  slavery  has  converted  into  a  sort 
of  jungle,  and  there  repeat  the  words  of  Washington,  — 
'  No  man  desires  more  earnestly  than  I  do  to  see  slavery 
abolished  :  there  is  only  one  proper  way  to  do  it,  and 
that  is  by  legislative  action ;  and  for  that  my  vote  shall 
never  be  wanting '  ?  Could  we  go  to  Monticello,  could 
we  stand  by  the  graves  of  Jefferson,  of  Madison,  of  Henry, 
of  the  great  men  of  Virginia,  and  utter  the  sublime 
thoughts  which  they  uttered  for  the  liberty  of  the  bond 
men  ?  Could  we  stand  by  the  grave  of  Henry  Clay,  and 
declare,  as  he  declared,  slavery  to  be  '  a  curse,'  *  a  wrong,' 
a  c  grievous  wrong  to  the  slave,  that  no  contingency  could 
make  right '? 

"  In  the  slaveholding  States,  free  speech  and  a  free  press 
are  known  only  in  theory.  A  slaveholding,  slavery-ex 
tending  Democracy  has  established  a  relentless  despotism. 
We  invited  you  of  the  South  to  meet  us  in  national  con 
vention  to  restore  the  government  to  the  policy  of  the 
fathers.  Mr.  Underwood  of  Virginia  did  go  to  Philadel 
phia.  He  united  with  us  in  our  declaration  of  principles ; 
he  united  with  us  in  the  nomination  of  John  C.  Fremont: 
and  for  this  offence  he  was  banished  from  Virginia.  He 
returned  a  few  days  since,  and  was  notified,  that,  if  he 
remained,  he  must  run  the  risk  of  being  dealt  with  by  an 
indignant  community.  He  has  left  there,  and  I  believe  is 
now  here  in  the  city  of  Washington.  When  the  Fremont 
flag  was  raised  in  Norfolk,  the  civil  authorities  took  it 
down.  Mr.  Stannard,  a  merchant  of  Norfolk,  a  native  of 
Connecticut,  went  up  to  the  ballot-box,  and  quietly  handed 
in  his  vote  for  Frdmont.  It  was  handed  back  to  him. 
They  would  not  receive  it.  He  was  driven  from  the  polls, 
and  compelled  to  hide  himself  for  days,  until  he  could  find 


DEFENCE  OF  KEPUBLICAN  PARTY.       219 

an  opportunity  to  escape  from  the  State  to  presc  rve  his 
life." 

Of  the  despotism  of  slavery  he  said,  — 

"  Sir,  I  have  said  that  you  have  no  freedom  of  speech  at 
the  South.  Senators  have  denounced  us  as  sectional 
because  we  have  no  votes  in  the  South.  That  reminds  me 
of  the  Dutch  judge  in  old  democratic  Berks,  who  kicked 
the  defendant  out  of  doors,  locked  the  door,  and  then  en 
tered  a  judgment  for  default.  (Laughter.)  Your  native 
sons  stand  on  electoral  tickets,  or  vote  our  principles,  at 
the  peril  of  life.  Then,  when  you  are  able  with  your  iron 
despotism  to  crush  out  all  there  who  would  go  with  usr 
you  turn  round  and  tell  us  we  are  getting  up  a  sectional 
party.  I  assure  you,  there  are  tens  of  thousands  of  men 
in  the  South  whose  sympathies  are  with  us ;  but  they  have 
no  opportunity  so  to  vote.  In  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  nearly 
three  thousand  Germans,  to  show  their  devotion  to  lib* 
erty,  went  to  the  ballot-boxes,  when  they  could  get  up  no- 
State  ticket  for  Fremont,  and  voted  for  Millard  Fillmorey 
the  Know-Nothing  candidate,  with  the  word  '  Protest ' 
printed  on  their  ballots,  —  an  act  which  illustrates  your 
despotism,  and  shows  that  these  men,  who  were  true  to 
liberty  in  the  Old  World,  will  not  be  false  to  their  cher 
ished  convictions  in  the  New. 

"  Even  here  in  the  national  capitol,  that  vacant  seat 
(pointing  to  -Mr.  Sumner's  chair)  is  an  evidence  that 
freedom  of  speech  is  not  always  tolerated,  —  not  always- 
safe." 

To  the  charge  of  fanaticism  he  replied,  — 

"  If  you  believe  that  the  people  are  fanatics,  or  that 
their  leaders  deceive  them,  remember  one  thing,  —  that,  in 
1850,  there  were  in  the  United  States  nearly  eight  hun 
dred  thousand  free  persons  above  twenty  years  of  age  who 


220  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

could  not  read  or  write.  Only  ninety-four  thousand  oat 
of  this  eight  hundred  thousand  happen  to  live  in  the 
States  which  Fremont  has  carried.  Remember  another 
thing,  —  that  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  which  you  con 
sider  so  ultra,  —  a  people  so  easily  deluded,  —  prints  within 
a  few  thousand,  and  circulates,  more  newspapers  within 
the  State  than  all  the  fifteen  Southern  States  of  the  Union. 
Remember,  they  have  more  volumes  in  their  public  libra 
ries  than  all  the  slave  States.  Remember,  they  give  away 
more  money  to  the  Bible  and  Missionary  and  other  benevo 
lent  societies,  every  year,  than  the  entire  slaveholding 
States  ;  and  they  have  done  so  during  the  last  quarter  of 
a  century. 

"  I  tell  you,  sir,  that  the  people  are  ahead  of  us  ;  and 
that  is  what  you  fear.  You  say  that  they  are  deceived  by 
us ;  and  then  you  turn  round  and  declare  that  you  cannot 
rely  on  our  disclaimers,  because  the  people  will  pass  be 
yond  the  direction  and  control  of  political  leaders.  The 
people  understand  this  question,  sir:  they  know  their 
responsibilities,  their  powers,  and  their  duties." 

He  closed  by  these  brave  words  :  — 

"  I  give  you  notice  to-day,  gentlemen,  what  we  intend 
to  do.  If  the  incoming  administration  sends  into  this 
body  the  nomination  of  a  single  man  who  ever  threatened 
the  dissolution  of  the  Union,  we  intend  to  camp  on  this 
floor,  and  to  resist  his  confirmation  to  the  bitter  end. 
I  give  you  notice  now,  that  we  shall  resist  the  coming  into- 
power  of  all  that  class  of  men,  as  enemies  of  the  Consti 
tution  and  the  Union. 

"  We  go  farther.  We  mean  to  hold  the  incoming  ad 
ministration  responsible  if  it  gives  confidence  or  patronage 
to  your  '  Richmond  Enquirers '  and  '  Examiners,'  your 
'  Charleston  Mercuries '  and  f  Standards,'  your  c  New- 


DEFENCE  OF  REPUBLICAN  PAETY.       221 

Orleans  Deltas  '  and  your  <  South-side  Democrats,'  or  an? 
Democratic  journal  in  the  United  States  which  threat 
ened  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  in  the  event  of  our 
success.  We  intend  here  in  our  places  to  defend  that 
Union  which  makes  us  one  people  against  the  men  of 
your  party  who  have  threatened  to  subvert  and  destroy  it. 
We  intend  to  go  a  little  farther.  Your  slave  propagandist 
journals  have  denounced  the  independent  laboring-men 
of  the  North  as  c  greasy  mechanics,'  '  filthy  operatives,' 
4  small-fisted  farmers,'  «  moon-struck  theorists.'  We  mean 
to  hold  you  responsible  if  you  bestow  your  confidence 
and  patronage  upon  journals  which  maintain  that  '  the 
principle  of  slavery  is  itself  right,  and  does  not  depend 
on  difference  of  complexion.' 

"  Senators  have  told  us  they  want  peace ;  they  want 
repose.  Well,  sir,  I  want  peace ;  I  want  repose.  The 
State  I  represent  wants  peace ;  wants  repose.  Tens  of 
millions  of  our  property  are  scattered  broadcast  over  the 
Southern  States.  The  business-men,  the  merchants,  the 
manufacturers,  of  my  State  want  peace  as  much  as  you 
can  want  it.  You  can  have  it.  But  you  cannot  have  it 
if  you  want  to  extend  slavery  over  the  free  Territories. 
You  cannot  have  it  if  you  continue  your  efforts  to  bring 
Kansas  here  a  slave  State.  If  you  want  peace,  abandon 
your  policy  of  slavery  -extension.  Cease  all  efforts  to 
control  the  political  destinies  of  the  country  through  the 
expansion  of  slavery  as  an  element  of  political  power. 
Plant  yourselves  upon  your  reserved  constitutional  rights, 
and  we  will  aid  you  in  the  vindication  of  those  rights. 
Turn  your  attention  from  the  forbidden  fruits  of  Cuban, 
Central- American,  or  Mexican  acquisitions,  to  your  own 
dilapidated  fields,  where  the  revegetating  forests  are 
springing  up,  and  where,  in  the  language  of  Gov.  Wise, 

19* 


222  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

'  you  have  the  owners  skinning  the  negroes,  the  negroes 
skinning  the  land,  until  all  grow  poor  together.'  Erase 
from  your  statute-books  those  cruel  laws  which  shock 
the  sensibilities  of  mankind.  Place  there  humane  and 
beneficent  legislation,  which  shall  protect  the  relations 
of  husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child;  which  shall  open 
darkened  minds  to  the  elevating  influence  of  Christian 
culture.  You  will  then  have  the  generous  sympathies, 
the  sincere  prayers,  of  men  who  reverently  look  to  Him 
whose  hand  guides  the  destinies  of  the  world.  You  will 
have  the  best  wishes  of  the  friends  of  liberty  all  over  the 
globe.  Humanity  and  Christianity  will  sanction  and  bless 
your  efforts  to  hasten  on  that  day,  though  it  may  be  dis 
tant,  when  freedom  shall  be  the  inalienable  birthright  of 
every  man  who  treads  the  soil  of  the  North- American 
continent." 

Mr.  Wilson  visited  Canada  for  the  first  time  in  the 
autumn,  and  was  present  at  the  banquet  in  Montreal  at 
the  opening  of  the  Grand-Trunk  Railroad,  where  to  the 
third  toast,  which  was  to  the  chief  magistrate  of  the 
United  States,  he  made  this  admirable  response :  — 

UMR.  MAYOR  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS,  —  I  thank  you, 
in  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  who  have 
come  to  join  you  on  this  great  festival,  for  the  sentiment 
you  have  given  for  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  United 
States.  (Cheers.)  I  am  sure,  sir,  that  I  speak  the  sen 
timents  of  every  American  here  to-day,  when  I  say  that 
we  not  only  thank  you  for  proposing  a  sentiment  to  the 
chief  magistrate  of  our  country,  but  I  thank  you  for  say 
ing  that  you  trust  that  the  people  of  the  United  States 
and  the  people  of  British  America  will  always  meet  as 
friends.  (Cheers.)  Difficulties  have  arisen,  have  fre 
quently  arisen,  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 


VISIT  TO  CANADA.  228 

States.  These  difficulties,  sir,  between  our  governments, 
we  all  trust,  are  in  process  of  settlement,  so  that  peace, 
perpetual  peace,  may  be  preserved  between  Great  Britain 
and  America.  (Great  applause.)  Let  me  say  here  to 
day, —  what  I  know  every  son  of  New  England,  New  York, 
and,  in  an  especial  manner,  the  sons  of  the  mighty  West, 
will  sustain  me  in  saying,  —  that  we  witness  the  develop 
ment  and  the  prosperity  of  the  British  Colonies  in  North 
America  (cheers)  not  only  without  jealousy,  but  we  wit 
ness  them  with  pride  and  admiration.  (Cheers.)  Go 
on,  brethren ;  improve  and  develop  all  the  mighty 
resources  of  British  America.  Your  prosperity  is  our 
prosperity.  (Applause.)  We  are  bound  together  by 
a  thousand  associations  of  blood  and  of  kindred.  We 
are  connected  together  by  those  mighty  improvements 
which  we  are  met  here  to-day  to  commemorate.  We 
are  bound  together  by  a  treaty  of  reciprocity,  mutually 
beneficial  to  you  and  to  us.  We  are  beginning  to  under 
stand  each  other,  to  value  each  other,  to  be  proud  of 
each  other's  prosperity  and  success  ;  and  may  God  grant 
that  the  sons  of  British  America  and  the  sons  of  the 
North- American  republic  may  never  meet  again  on  the 
banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  on  river,  on  lake,  on  land,  in 
any  other  way  than  that  in  which  we  are  all  met  to 
day,  —  to  grasp  each  other's  hands  in  friendship,  and  to 
aid,  to  encourage  each  other  in  the  development  of  the 
resources  of  the  North-American  continent !  (Great 
applause.)  Sir,  the  governor  -  general  has  alluded  to 
Lord  Durham,  —  a  statesman  in  whose  premature  grave 
were  buried  many  of  the  high  hopes  of  the  reformers  of 
England.  He  uttered  a  sentiment  that  every  statesman, 
whether  in  the  service  of  England  or  America,  should 
respond  to  ;  and  that  was  this,  — l  that  he  never  saw  an 


224  LIFE  OF  HENKY  WILSON. 

hour  pass  over  recognized  and  unreformed  abuses  without 
profound  regret.'  (Cheers.)  Gentlemen,  I  give  you  in 
conclusion  this  sentiment :  *  Prosperity  to  the  people  of 
the  Canadas,  and  success  to  their  government.' "  (Great 
applause.) 

Mr.  Wilson's  Congressional  career  in  1857,  though  char 
acterized  by  no  striking  effort  in  debate,  was  nevertheless 
marked  by  incessant  and  effective  labor.  We  find  him,  in 
addition  to  his  arduous  duties  in  the  Military  Committee, 
always  abreast  of  the  questions  of  the  times,  and  vigorously 
advocating  liberal  and  progressive  measures.  This  may 
be  seen  from  a  brief  record  of  his  doings  in  the  Senate 
for  the  month  of  February,  here  presented  :  On  the  4th 
inst.  he  spoke  in  favor  of  disposing  of  the  alternate 
sections  of  land  along  the  railroads  aided  by  the  govern 
ment,  not  to  speculators,  but  to  actual  settlers  on  the  lines. 
Twenty-one  millions  of  acres  had  been  granted  to  the 
States  for  railroad-purposes :  by  selling  to  the  cultivators 
of  the  soil,  a  population  would  arise  to  support  the  roads, 
and  make  them  really  serviceable  to  the  country.  On  the 
10th  he  presented  a  resolution  against  the  repeal  of  the 
fishing  bounty ;  on  the  12th,  a  resolution  to  inquire  into 
the  cause  of  the  failure  of  the  mails  at  Washington,  this 
having  occurred  thirty-eight  times  within  seventy-two 
days ;  on  the  17th  inst.  he  spoke  in  favor  of  increasing 
the  pay  of  officers  of  a  rank  lower  than  lieutenant-colonels 
in  the  army  ;  on  the  18th  he  advocated  the  introduction  of 
a  bust  of  Chief  Justice  William  Gushing,  as  an  offset  to 
that  of  Mr.  Rutledge ;  on  the  21st  he  made  an  argument 
in  favor  of  admitting  Minnesota,  "  clothed,"  as  he  said, 
"  in  the  white  robes  of  Freedom,"  into  the  Union ;  on  the 
26th  he  declared  himself  in  favor  of  a  sub-marine  tele 
graph  ;  on  the  27th  he  spoke  in  favor  of  a  telegraphic  line 


CONGRESSIONAL   CAREER.  22£ 

between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  States  ;  and  on  the  28th 
he  introduced  a  bill  for  the  erection  of  a  court-house  in 
the  city  of  Boston.  Such  were  some  of  his  labors  for  the 
month ;  and,  by  a  reference  to  "  The  Congressional  Globe," 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  interests  of  the  Commonwealth  he 
represented  did  not  suffer  in  his  hands. 

On  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  and  the  admission  of 
Kansas  into  the  Union  under  it,  Mr.  "Wilson  declared  his 
sentiments  in  forcible  language  on  the  3d  and  4th  of 
February,  1858.  Replying  to  Mr.  Brown,  he  asks,  — 

"  Why  is  this  act  to  be  consummated,  when  we  know, 
that,  on  the  4th  of  January,  twelve  thousand  men  of  that 
Territory  voted  against  this  constitution  ;  and  that  there 
were  only  six  thousand  votes  cast  for  it  on  the  21st  of  De 
cember,  of  which  three  or  four  thousand  were  unques 
tionably  fraudulent? 

"  There  is  only  one  power  on  this  continent  which 
could  thus  control,  direct,  and  guide  men :  and  that  is 
that  gigantic  slave  power  which  holds  this  administration 
in  the  hollow  of  its  hand  ;  which  guides  and  directs  the 
Democratic  party  ;  and  which  has  only  to  stamp  its  foot, 
and  the  men  who  wield  the  government  of  this  country 
tremble,  submit,  and  bow  to  its  will.  Senators  talk  about 
the  dangers  of  the  country.  Great  God  !  what  are  our 
dangers  ?  The  danger  is  that  there  is  such  a  power  —  a 
local,  sectional  power  —  that  can  control  this  government, 
can  ride  over  justice,  ride  over  a  wronged  people,  consum 
mate  glaring  and  outrageous  frauds,  and  trample  down 
the  will  of  a  brave  and  free  people.  That  is  the  danger. 
The  time  has  come  when  the  freemen  of  this  country, 
looking  to  liberty,  to  popular  rights,  to  justice  to  all  sec 
tions  of  the  country,  should  overthrow  this  power,  and 
trample  it  under  their  feet  forever.  The  time  has  come 


226  LIFE   OF   HE  KEY   WILSON. 

when  the  people  should  rise  in  the  majesty  of  conscious 
power,  and  hurl  from  office  and  from  places  of  influence 
the  men  who  thus  bow  to  this  tyranny. 

"  Senators  are  anxious  about  the  Union.  The  senator 
from  Delaware  (Mr.  Bayard)  to-day  thought  it  was  in 
peril.  Well,  sir,  I  am  not  alarmed  about  it.  1  am  in  the 
Union  ;  my  State  is  in  the  Union  :  we  intend  to  stay  in  it. 
If  anybody  wants  to  go  out,  Mexico  and  Central  America, 
and  the  valley  of  the  Amazon,  are  all  open  to  emigration  : 
let  them  start.  I  shall  not  hold  them  back,  nor  mourn 
over  their  departure.  But  all  this  continent  now  in  the 
Union  is  American  soil,  and  a  part  of  my  country  ;  and 
my  vote  and  my  influence,  now  and  hereafter,  will  be 
given  to  keep  it  a  part  of  my  country." 

The  following  letter  from  the  late  Hon.  George  T.  Bige- 
low  indicates  the  spirit  with  which  liberty-loving  men 
responded  to  the  sentiments  which  the  Massachusetts  sena 
tor  expressed :  — 

BOSTON,  Feb.  22,  1858. 

DEAR  SIR,  —  I  had  read  a  report  of  your  remarks  in 
the  Senate  in  reply  to  Messrs.  Brown  and  Green  before 
I  received  your  pamphlet  edition  of  them.  I  trust  that 
you  will  not  think  it  intrusive  in  me  to  say  that  I  was 
highly  gratified  by  the  matter,  as  well  as  by  the  tone  and 
temper  which  pervade  them.  They  are  manly  and  digni 
fied  ;  sufficiently  bold  and  resolute,  without  being  vitu 
perative  or  personal ;  maintaining  the  truth  fearlessly,  and 
resisting  the  disposition  of  the  Southern  men  to  overawe 
and  browbeat  in  the  right  spirit.  The  South  will  soon 
learn  that  their  bastard  chivalry  is  worth  but  little  when 
opposed  to  such  courageous  assaults. 

I  suppose  that  there  is  but  little,  if  any,  hope  of  success 
fully  resisting  the  admission  of  Kansas  under  the  Le- 


LETTEES.  227 

compton  Constitution.  There  is  no  scheme  of  fraud  and 
riolence  which  the  South  will  not  adopt  to  secure  their 
ends,  and  which  the  Northern  Democracy  will  not  subser 
viently  support.  I  cannot  doubt,  however,  that  the  fla 
grant  wrong  and  injustice  of  the  whole  proceeding  will 
arouse  the  spirit  of  the  North  and  North-west  to  a  united 
effort  against  the  slavery  propagandism  of  the  party  in 
power.  The  great  danger  is  that  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
people  of  the  free  States  will  expend  itself  in  electing  a 
Republican  majority  in  the  next  Congress,  and  will  then 
die  away,  so  that  we  shall  lose  the  presidential  election  of 
1860.  However  this  may  be,  the  only  way  is  to  fight  on 
in  the  confident  hope  that  the  day  of  triumph  will  surely 
come. 

I  am,  with  great  respect, 

Your  friend  and  servant, 

G.  T.  BIGELOW. 

Another  letter,  dated  Feb.  22,  says  in  relation  to  this 
speech, — 

"  It  adds  to  your  laurels ;  and  I  congratulate  you  on 
your  successful  encounter  with  our  enemies  in  the  Senate. 
Your  whole  course  since  you  have  been  a  member  of  the 
Senate  has  been  highly  honorable  to  you,  and  gratifying  to 
the  great  body  of  your  constituents.  You  have  manifested 
not  only  the  most  distinguished  ability,  but  a  fearlessness 
that  has  raised  you  amazingly  in  the  good  opinion  of 
Northern  men.  I  hear  but  one  sentiment  expressed  in 
regard  to  you ;  and  that  is  friendly  and  respectful.  You 
never  held  so  elevated  a  position  as  you  do  at  the  present 
time.  We  all  feel  proud  that  we  have  at  least  one  repre- 


228  LIFE  OF   HBNEY    WILSON. 

sentative  who  is  both  able  and  willing  to  take  a  defiant 
stand  against  the  tyranny  which  is  making  our  country 
worthless  to  us  and  a  mockery  to  the  world. 
"  Yours  very  truly, 

«  G.  R.  RUSSELL." 


CHAPTER   XH. 

REPLY  TO   MR.  HAMMOND.  —  CHALLENGE   FROM   MR.  GWIN. 


Character  of  his  Reply  to  Mr.  Hammond.  —  "  Cotton  is  King."  —  Southern 
Institutions.  —  A  Contrast.  —  Social  Condition  of  the  North  and  South. — 
Mud-sills.  —  Free  Labor  of  the  North.  —  Conclusion  of  his  Argument.— 
Reply  to  Mr.  Gwin's  Challenge.  —  The  Affair  amicably  adjusted. 


ON  the  20th  of  March  (1858)  following,  Mr.  Wilson 
made  a  most  eloquent  speech  in  reply  to  Mr.  Ham 
mond  of  South  Carolina,  who  had  proclaimed  that "  Cotton 
was  king,"  and  most  insolently  characterized  the  Northern 
working-men  as  "  mud-sills  "  and  "  essentially  slaves."  In 
Mr.  Wilson's  array  of  facts,  his  cogent  arguments,  his 
bold  invective,  he  confounds  this  chivalric  defender  of 
the  servile  institution,  and  presents  the  noblest  plea  for 
the  Northern  laborer  ever  uttered  in  the  halls  of  Con 
gress.  By  all  his  sympathies,  by  the  whole  training  of 
his  life,  he  was  prepared  for  the  contest.  In  some  respects 
this  speech  is  a  model  of  invective  eloquence,  and  has  en 
deared  its  author  to  the  hearts  of  millions  of  the  work 
ing  -  people.  We  regret  that  but  a  few  extracts  can  be 
given  here. 

To  his  vaunting  assertion  that  "  Cotton  was  king,"  he 
says,  "  The  senator,  filled  with  magnificent  visions  of 
Southern  power,  crowns  Cotton  '  king ; '  and  tells  us, 

20  229 


230  LIFE   OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

that,  if  they  should  stop  supplying  cotton  for  three  years, 
4  England  would  topple  headlong,  and  carry  the  whole 
civilized  world  with  her,  save  the  South ' !  "What  pre 
sumption  !  The  South,  —  which  owns  lands  and  slaves, 
the  price  fluctuating  with  the  production,  use,  and  price 
of  cotton,  —  having  no  other  resource  or  means  of  support, 
would  go  harmless ;  while  the  great  commercial  centres 
of  the  world,  with  the  vast  accumulations  of  capital,  the 
products  of  ages  of  accumulation,  with  varied  pursuits 
and  skilled  industry,  would  '  topple '  to  their  fall.  Sir, 
I  suppose  the  coffee-planters  of  Brazil,  the  tea-growers  of 
the  Celestial  Empire,  and  the  wheat-growers  on  the  shores 
of  the  Black  Sea  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Don  and  the  Vol 
ga,  indulge  in  the  same  magnificent  illusions.  I  would 
remind  the  senator  that  the  commercial  world  is  not 
governed  by  the  cotton-planters  of  the  South,  the  coffee- 
planters  of  Brazil,  the  tea-growers  of  China,  nor  the 
wheat-producers  of  Eastern  Europe.  I  tell  the  senator 
that  England,  France,  Germany,  Western  Europe,  and 
the  Northern  States  of  the  Union,  are  the  commercial, 
manufacturing,  business,  and  monetary  centres  of  the 
world ;  that  their  merchants,  manufacturers,  and  capital 
ists  grasp  the  globe ;  that  cotton  and  sugar  and  tea  and 
coffee  and  wheat,  and  the  spices  of  the  isles  of  the  Orien 
tal  seas,  are  grown  for  them.  Sir,  the  cotton-planters  of 
the  South  are  their  agents.  I  would  remind  the  senator 
that  the  free  States  in  1850  produced  eight  hundred  and 
fifty  million  dollars  of  manufactures,  and  that  only  fifty- 
two  million  dollars  of  that  vast  production  —  about  one- 
seventeenth  part  of  it  —  was  made  up  of  cotton.  Our 
manufactures  and  mechanic  arts  now  must  exceed  twelve 
hundred  million  dollars ;  and  cotton  does  not  make  up 
more  than  seventy  million  dollars.  Does  the  senator 


EEPLY   TO   MR.   HAMMOND.  231 

think  the  free  States  would  <  topple '  down  if  they  should 
lose  one-seventeenth  part  of  their  productive  industry  ? 

"  The  productive  industry  of  Massachusetts,  a  State  that 
manufactures  more  than  one-third  of  all  the  cotton  manu 
factured  in  the  country,  was,  in  1855,  three  hundred  and 
fifty  million  dollars  :  only  twenty-six  million  dollars,  one- 
thirteenth  part  of  it,  was  cotton.  Does  the  senator  be 
lieve  that  a  State  which  has  a  productive  industry  of  three 
hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars  —  about  two  hundred  and 
eighty  dollars  per  head  for  each  person  —  would  perish  if 
she  should  lose  twenty-six  million  dollars  of  that  vast 
production?  f 

"  It  is  no  matter  of  surprise  that  gentlemen  who  live 
away  off  on  cross-roads,  where  the  cotton  blooms,  should 
come  to  believe  that  cotton  rules  the  world ;  but  a  few 
months'  association  with  the  great  world  would  cure  that 
delusion.  <  You  are  our  factors,'  exclaims  the  senator ; 
4  you  bring  and  carry  for  us.  Suppose  we  were  to  dis 
charge  you ;  suppose  we  were  to  take  our  business  out 
of  your  hands  :  we  should  consign  you  to  anarchy  and 
poverty.'  Sir,  suppose,  when  the  senator  returns  from 
this  chamber  to  his  cotton-fields,  his  slaves  should  in 
their  simplicity  say  to  him,  'Massa,  you  only  sells  de 
cotton :  we  plants  ;  we  hoes  ;  we  picks  de  cotton.  'Spose 
we  discharge  you,  massa ! '  The  unsophisticated  '  mud 
sills  '  would  be  quite  as  reasonable  as  the  senator.  The 
senator  seems  to  think  that  the  cotton-planters  hold  us 
in  the  hollow  of  their  hands :  if  they  shake  them,  we 
tremble  ;  if  they  close  them,  we  perish." 

To  his  boasting  of  the  excellence  of  Southern  social 
and  political  institutions  Senator  Wilson  replies,  — 

"  The  senator  from  South  Carolina,  after  crowning  Cot 
ton  as  king,  with  power  to  bring  England  and  all  the  civ- 


232  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

ilized  world  c  toppling '  down  into  the  yawning  gulfs  of 
bankruptcy  and  ruin,  complacently  tells  the  Senate  and 
the  trembling  subjects  of  his  cotton-king  that c  the  great 
est  strength  of  the  South  arises  from  the  harmony  of  her 
political  and  social  institutions  ; '  that '  her  forms  of  soci 
ety  are  the  best  in  the  world ; '  that  *  she  has  an  extent 
of  political  freedom,  combined  with  entire  security,  seen 
nowhere  on  earth.'  The  South,  he  tells  us, '  is  satisfied, 
harmonious,  and  prosperous  : '  and  he  asks  us  if  we  '  have 
heard  that  the  ghosts  of  Mendoza  and  Torquemada  are 
stalking  in  the  streets  of  our  great  cities  ;  that  the  Inquisi 
tion  is  at  hand ;  and  that  there  are  fearful  rumors  of  con 
sultations  for  vigilance  committees.'  Sir,  this,  self-com 
placency  is  sublime.  No  son  of  the  Celestial  Empire  can 
approach  the  senator  in  self-complacency.  That 4  society 
the  best  in  the  world '  where  more  than  three  millions  of 
beings  created  in  the  image  of  God  are  held  as  chattels,  — 
sunk  from  the  lofty  level  of  humanity  to  the  abject  con 
dition  of  unreasoning  beasts  of  burden !  That  '  society 
the  best  in  the  world '  where  are  manacles,  chains,  and 
whips,  auction-blocks,  prisons,  bloodhounds,  scourgings, 
lynchings,  and  burnings  ;  laws  to  torture  the  body,  shrivel 
the  mind,  and  debase  the  soul ;  where  labor  is  dishonored, 
and  laborers  despised  !  '  Political  freedom  '  in  a  land 
where  woman  is  imprisoned  for  teaching  little  children  to 
read  God's  holy  Word  ;  where  professors  are  deposed  and 
banished  for  opposing  the  extension  of  slavery ;  where 
public  men  are  exiled  for  quoting  in  a  national  conven 
tion  the  words  of  Jefferson  ;  where  voters  are  mobbed 
for  appearing  to  vote  for  free  territory ;  and  where  book 
sellers  are  driven  from  the  country  for  selling  that  mas 
terly  work  of  genius,  '  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin '  !  A  land 
of  i  certain  security,'  where  patrols,  costing,  as  in 


REPLY  TO  MB.   HAMMOND.  238 

Old  Virginia,  more  than  is  expended  to  educate  her 
poor  children,  stalk  the  country  to  catch  the  faintest 
murmur  of  discontent ;  where  the  bay  of  the  bloodhound 
never  ceases ;  where,  but  little  more  than  a  year  ago, 
rose  the  startling  cry  of  insurrection ;  and  where  men, 
some  of  them  owned  by  a  member  of  this  body,  were 
scourged  and  murdered  for  suspected  insurrection ! 
'  Political  freedom '  and  '  certain  security '  in  a  land 
which  demands  that  seventeen  millions  of  freemen 
shall  stand  guard  to  seize  and  carry  back  fleeing  bond 
men  !  " 

Contrasting  the  desolation  of  the  South  with  the  pros 
perity  of  the  North,  he  says,  — 

"  De  Bow's  4  Resources  of  the  South,'  from  Fenno's 
'  Southern  Medical  Reports,'  speaks  of  <  decaying  old 
tenements  '  in  Georgia  ;  '  red  old  hills,  stripped  of  their 
native  growth  and  virgin  soil  and  washed  into  deep 
gullies,  with  here  and  there  patches  of  Bermuda  grass 
and  stunted  pine-shrubs  struggling  for  subsistence  on 
what  was  once  the  richest  soil  of  America.'  Millions  of 
acres  of  the  richest  soil  of  the  Western  world  have  been 
converted  into  barrenness  and  desolation  by  the  untutored, 
unpaid,  and  thriftless  labor  of  slaves.  This  exhaustion 
of  Southern  soil  tilled  by  bondmen ;  this  deterioration, 
decay,  and  desolation,  now  visible  in  what  was  once  the 
fairest  portion  of  the  continent,  —  stands  confessed  by  the 
most  eminent  writers  of  the  South.  These  descriptions 
of  the  decay  and  desolation  of  some  of  the  fairest  por 
tions  of  the  sunny  South  remind  us  of  the  desolating 
effects  of  slavery  upon  the  rich  fields  of  classic  Italy  in 
the  days  of  Tiberius  Gracchus,  as  described  by  the  brilliant 
and  philosoph/c  pen  of  Bancroft  in  his  masterly  article 
on  Roman  slavery. 
20* 


234  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

"  Turning,  Mr.  President,  from  this  contemplation  of 
the  desolations  of  slavery  to  the  rugged  soil  and  still 
more  rugged  clime  of  the  free  North,  we  shall  see  that 
the  farms  tilled  by  free,  educated  men  are  annually 
blooming  with  a  fresher  and  richer  verdure  ;  that  they 
annually  wave  with  larger  harvests  of  the  varied  products 
which  find  markets  in  the  cities  and  villages  which  com 
merce,  manufactures,  and  the  mechanic  arts,  create,  beau 
tify,  and  adorn.  While  the  plantations  of  the  South 
echo  the  sound  of  the  lash  by  which  unpaid  toil  is  driven 
on  in  the  blighting  process  of  exhausting  the  richest 
soils,  the  farms  of  the  free  States  are  increasing  in  value, 
fertility,  and  beauty :  they  are  nursing  a  race  of  noble 
and  independent  men,  where 

'  The  lowliest  farm-house  hearth  is  graced 
With  manly  hearts,  in  piety  sincere ; 
Faithful  in  love,  in  honor  stern  and  chaste, 
In  friendship  warm  and  true,  in  danger  brave ; 
Beloved  in  life,  and  sainted  in  the  grave.'  " 

In  respect  to  the  comparative  educational  and  literary 
and  scientific  condition  of  the  two  sections  of  the  Union, 
he  remarks, — 

"  In  the  slave  States,  laws  forbid  the  education  of  nearly 
four  millions  of  her  people  :  in  the  free  States,  laws  encour 
age  the  education  of  the  people,  and  public  opinion  up 
holds  and  enforces  those  laws.  In  1850  there  were  sixty- 
two  thousand  schools,  seventy-two  thousand  teachers,  two 
million  eight  hundred  thousand  scholars,  in  the  public 
schools  of  the  free  States :  in  the  slave  States  there  were 
eighteen  thousand  schools,  nineteen  thousand  teachers, 
and  five  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  scholars.  Massa 
chusetts  has  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  scholars  in  her 


REPLY  TO  MB.   HAMMOND.  235 

public  schools,  at  a  cost  of  a  million  three  hundred  thou 
sand  dollars.  South  Carolina  has  seventeen  thousand 
scholars  in  her  public  schools :  seventy-five  thousand  dol 
lars  is  paid  by  the  State ;  and  the  governor  in  1853  said, 
that,  <  under  the  present  mode  of  applying  it,  it  was  the 
profusion  of  the  prodigal  rather  than  the  judicious  gene 
rosity  which  confers  real  benefits.'  New  York  has  more 
scholars  in  her  public  schools  than  all  the  slave  States 
together.  Ohio  has  five  hundred  and  two  thousand 
scholars  in  her  public  schools,  supported  at  an  expense 
of  two  million  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 
Kentucky  has  seventy-six  thousand  scholars,  supported  at 
an  expense  of  a  hundred  and  forty-six  thousand  dollars. 
"  The  free  States  had,  in  1850,  more  than  fifteen  thou 
sand  libraries,  containing  four  million  volumes :  the  slave 
States  had  seven  hundred  libraries,  containing  six  hun 
dred  and  fifty  thousand  volumes.  Massachusetts,  the  land 
of  '  hireling  operatives,'  has  eighteen  hundred  libraries, 
which  contain  not  less  than  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thou 
sand  volumes,  —  more  libraries  and  volumes  than  all  the 
slave  States  combined.  The  little  State  of  Rhode  Island, 
a  mere  patch  of  thirteen  hundred  square  miles  on  the 
surface  of  New  England,  has  more  volumes  in  her  libra 
ries  than  have  the^  five  great  States  of  Georgia,  Florida, 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana.  De  Bow  —  good 
Southern  authority  —  says,  that,  in  every  country,  the 
press  must  be  regarded  as  a  great  educational  agency.  The 
free  States  had,  in  1850,  eighteen  hundred  newspapers, 
with  a  circulation  of  three  hundred  and  thirty-five  mil 
lion:  the  slave  States  had,  at  that  time,  seven  hundred 
newspapers,  with  a  circulation  of  eighty-one  million.  The 
free  States  have  seven  times  as  many  religious  papers,  and 
I  welve  times  as  many  scientific  papers,  as  the  South.  Mas- 


236  LIFE  OF  HENHY  WILSON. 

sachusetts  has  more  religious  papers  than  all  the  slave- 
holding  States  of  the  Union.  She  has  a  circulation  of 
two  million  for  her  scientific  papers  :  the  South  has  but 
three  hundred  and  seventy-two  thousand.  The  '  hireling 
operatives,  mechanics,  and  laborers,'  the  very  «  mud-sills' 
of  society,  read  five  times  as  many  copies  of  scientific 
papers  as  the  entire  South,  including  that  class  which, 
the  senator  tells  us,  leads  '  progress,  civilization,  and 
refinement.'  Nine-tenths  of  the  book-publishers  of  the 
United  States  are  in  the  free  States-  '  The  Charleston 
Standard' —  good  authority  with  the  senator — tells  us '  that 
their  pictures  are  painted  at  the  North,  their  books  pub 
lished  at  the  North,  their  periodicals  printed  at  the  North  ; 
that  should  a  man  rise  with  the  genius  of  Shakspeare  or 
Dickens  or  Fielding,  or  all  three  combined,  and.  speak 
from  the  South,  he  would  not  receive  enough  to  pay 
the  cost  of  publication.'  That  class,  that  favored  class, 
which  leads,  as  the  senator  tells  us,  '  progress,  civiliza 
tion,  and  refinement,'  forces  the  literary  talent  to  the 
North,  the  home  of  hireling  operatives,  to  find  not  only 
publishers,  but  readers  also. 

"  Of  the  authors  mentioned  in  Duyckinck's  c  Cyclopae 
dia  of  American  Literature,'  eighty-seven  were  natives  of 
slave  States,  and  four  hundred  and  three  were  natives 
of  the  free  North,  —  the  land  of  the  'hireling  laborers.' 
Of  the  poets  mentioned  in  Gris wold's  <  Poets  and  Poetry 
of  America,'  seventeen  were  natives  of  the  land  where 
they  have  that  other  class,  which  leads  '  progress,  civiliza 
tion,  and  refinement,'  and  a  hundred  and  twenty-three 
were  natives  of  the  land  of  l  hireling  operatives,'  —  the 
<  mud-sills '  of  society.  Of  the  poets  whose  nativity  is 
given  by  Mr.  Reed  in -his  'Female  Poets  of  America,' 
eleven  are  from  the  South,  seventy-three  from  the  North, 


EEPLY   TO   MH.    HAMMOND.  237 

Nine-tenths  of  all  the  books  written  in  America  fit  to  be 
read,  nine-tenths  of  all  the  books  published  in  America 
fit  to  be  published,  are  written  and  published,  not  in 
the  land  of  that  privileged  class  of  which  the  senator 
boasts,  but  in  the  free  States,  unblessed  by  that  privileged 
class.  Nearly  all  the  authors  whose  names  grace  and 
adorn  the  rising  literature  of  America,  whose  names  are 
known  in  the  literary  and  scientific  world,  find  their  homes 
in  the  free  States  of  the  North.  Irving,  Ticknor,  Sparks, 
Bancroft,  Prescott,  Hildreth,  and  Motley,  whose  contribu 
tions  to  the  historical  literature  of  America  are  recognized 
by  the  literary  world ;  Dana,  Bryant,  Halleck,  Longfellow, 
Sprague,  Whittier,  Lowell,  and  Willis,  the  recognized 
poets  of  our  country ;  Hawthorne,  Emerson,  Curtis,  Mel 
ville,  and  Mitchell,  whose  names  grace  the  light  literature 
of  our  times ;  and  Silliman,  Agassiz,  and  Peirce,  names 
associated  with  American  science,  —  find  their  homes,  not 
in  the  land  of  the  privileged  class  that  the  senator  from 
South  Carolina  tells  us  leads  £  progress,  civilization,  and 
refinement ; '  but  they  dwell  in  the  land  of  '  small-fisted 
farmers,  greasy  mechanics,  and  filthy  operatives,'  —  the 
<  mud-sills '  of  society.  The  sculptors  and  the  painters 
and  the  artists  —  they,  too,  find  their  homes,  not  in  the 
sunny  South,  but  in  the  free  land  of  the  North.  In  liter 
ature,  in  science,  in  the  arts,  the  superiority  of  the  North 
is  beyond  all  question.  Men  who  have  been,  or  who  now 
are,  *  hireling  laborers,'  in  some  forms,  in  the  North,  have 
contributed  more  to  the  arts,  the  science,  the  literature 
of  America  than  the  whole  class  of  slaveholders  now 
living  in  tli3  South. 

"  I  would  not,  Mr.  President,  underrate  the  influence 
of  the  slave  States  in  the  councils  of  the  republic.  Bound 
together  by  the  cohesive  attraction  of  a  vast  interest,  from 


238  LIFE   OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

which  the  civilization  of  the  age  averts  its  face,  the  privi 
leged  class  have  won  the  control  and  direct  the  policy  of 
the  government.  In  the  council  and  in  the  field,  the 
representatives  of  this  privileged  class  have  assumed  to 
direct  and  to  guide  ;  but  in  accumulating  capital,  in  com 
merce,  in  manufactures,  in  the  mechanic  arts,  in  educa 
tional  institutions,  in  literature,  in  science,  in  the  arts,  in 
the  charities  of  religion  and  humanity,  in  all  the  means 
by  which  the  nation  is  known  among  men,  the  free  States 
maintain  a  position  of  unquestioned  pre-eminence.  In  all 
these  the  South  is  a  mere  dependency  of  the  North. 
India  and  Australia  are  not  more  the  dependencies  of 
England  than  are  the  slaveholding  States  the  dependen 
cies  of  the  free  States.  Sir,  your  fifteen  slave  States  are 
but  fifteen  suburban  wards  of  our  great  commercial  city 
of  New  York.  Beyond  the  political  field  this  dependency 
is  everywhere  visible,  even  to  the  most  blind  devotees  of 
'  King  Cotton.'  Mr.  Perry,  in  an  address  before  the  South- 
Carolina  Institute  in  1856,  says  of  the  State  represented 
by  the  senator,  <  The  dependence  of  South  Carolina  upon 
the  Northern  States  for  all  the  necessaries,  comforts,  and 
luxuries  which  the  mechanic  arts  afford,  has  drained  her 
of  her  wealth,  and  made  her  positively  poor.' " 

Mr.  Wilson  thus  nobly  speaks  of  the  condition  of  free 
labor  at  the  North  :  — 

"  Mr.  President,  the  senator  from  South  Carolina  tells 
us  that  '  all  the  powers  of  the  world  cannot  abolish 
the  thing '  he  calls  slavery :  *  God  alone  can  do  it 
when  he  repeals  the  fiat,  "  The  poor  ye  have  always  with 
you."  For  the  man  who  lives  by  daily  labor,  and  your 
whole  class  of  hireling  manual  laborers  and  operatives, 
are  essentially  slaves.  Our  slaves  are  black,  happy,  con 
tent,  unaspiring :  yours  are  white ;  and  they  feel  ga)led 


KEPLY  TO  ME.    HAMMOND.  239 

by  their  degradation.  Our  slaves  do  not  vote  :  yours  do 
vote ;  and,  being  the  majority,  they  are  the  depositaries 
of  all  your  political  power ;  and  if  they  knew  the  tre 
mendous  secret,  that  the  ballot-box  is  stronger  than  "  an 
army  with  banners,"  and  could  combine,  your  society 
would  be  reconstructed,  your  government  overthrown, 
and  your  property  divided.' 

"  '  The  poor  ye  have  always  with  you.'  This  fiat  of 
Almighty  God,  which  Christian  men  of  all  ages  and  lands 
have  accepted  as  the  imperative  injunction  of  the  common 
Father  of  all  to  care  for  the  children  of  misfortune  and 
sorrow,  the  senator  from  South  Carolina  accepts  as  the 
foundation-stone,  the  eternal  law,  of  slavery,  which  <  all 
the  powers  of  the  earth  cannot  abolish.'  These  precious 
words  of  our  heavenly  Father, '  The  poor  ye  have  always 
with  you,'  are  perpetually  sounding  in  the  ears  of  man 
kind,  ever  reminding  them  of  their  dependence  and  their 
duties.  These  words  appeal  alike  to  the  conscience  and 
the  heart  of  mankind.  To  men  blessed  in  their  basket 
and  their  store  they  say,  '  Property  has  its  duties  as  well 
as  its  rights.'  To  men  clothed  with  authority  to  shape 
the  policy  or  to  administer  the  laws  of  the  State  they  say, 
'  Lighten,  by  wise,  humane,  and  equal  laws,  the  burdens 
of  the  toiling  and  dependent  children  of  men.'  To 
men  of  every  age  arid  every  clime  they  appeal  by  the 
divine  promise,  that '  he  that  giveth  to  the  poor  lendeth 
to  the  Lord.'  Sir,  I  thank  God  that  I  live  in  a  Common 
wealth  which  sees  no  warrant  in  these  words  of  inspira 
tion  to  oppress  the  sons  and  daughters  of  toil  and  poverty. 
Over  the  poor  and  lowly  she  casts  the  broad  shield  of 
equal,  just,  and  humane  legislation.  The  poorest  man 
that  treads  her  soil,  no  matter  what  blood  may  run  in  his 
vein?,  is  protected  in  his  rights,  and  incited  to  labor  by 


240  LIFE   OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

no  other  force  than  the  assurance  that  the  fruits  of  his 
toil  belong  to  himself,  to  the  wife  of  his  bosom,  and  the 
children  of  his  love. 

"  The  senator  from  South  Carolina  exclaims,  *  The 
man  who  lives  by  daily  labor,  your  whole  class  of  man 
ual  laborers,  are  essentially  slaves :  they  feel  galled  by 
their  degradation.'  What  a  sentiment  is  this  to  hear 
uttered  in  the  councils  of  this  democratic  republic ! 
The  senator's  political  associates,  who  listen  to  these 
words  which  brand  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  men 
they  represent  in  the  free  States  and  hundreds  of  their 
neighbors  and  personal  friends  as  '  slaves,'  have  found 
no  words  to  repel  or  rebuke  this  language.  This  language 
of  scorn  and  contempt  is  addressed  to  senators  who  were 
not  nursed  by  a  slave  ;  whose  lot  it  was  to  toil  with  their 
own  hands ;  to  eat  bread  earned,  not  by  the  sweat  of 
another's  brow,  but  by  their  own.  Sir,  I  am  the  son  of  a 
4  hireling  manual  laborer,'  who,  with  the  frosts  of  seventy 
winters  on  his  brow,  £  lives  by  daily  labor.'  I,  too,  have 
lived  by  daily  labor  ;  I,  too,  have  been  a  '  hireling  man 
ual  laborer.'  Poverty  cast  its  dark  and  chilling  shadow 
over  the  home  of  my  childhood ;  and  Want  was  there 
sometimes,  an  unbidden  guest.  At  the  age  of  ten  years, 
to  aid  him  who  gave  me  being  in  keeping  the  gaunt 
spectre  from  the  hearth  of  the  mother  who  bore  me,  I 
left  the  home  of  my  boyhood,  and  went  to  earn  my  bread 
by  4  daily  labor.'  Many  a  weary  mile  have  I  travelled 

'  To  beg  a  brother  of  the  earth 
To  give  me  leave  to  toil.' 

"  Sir,  I  have  toiled  as  a,4  hireling  manual  laborer'  in 
the  field  and  in  the  workshop  ;  and  I  tell  the  senator  from 
South  Carolina  that  I  never  i  felt  galled  by  my  degra- 


REPLY  TO  ME.   HAMMOND.  241 

dation.'  No,  sir ;  never !  Perhaps  the  senator  who 
represents  that  <  other  class,  which  leads  progress,  civili 
zation,  and  refinement,'  will  ascribe  this  to  obtuseness 
of  intellect  and  blunted  sensibilities  of  the  heart.  Sir,  I 
was  conscious  of  my  manhood :  I  was  the  peer  of  my 
employer.  I  knew  that  the  laws  and  institutions  of  my 
native  and  adopted  States  threw  over  him  an<l  me  alike 
the  panoply  of  equality  :  I  knew,  too,  that  the  world  was 
before  me ;  that  its  wealth,  its  garnered  treasures  of 
knowledge,  its  honors,  the  coveted  prizes  of  life,  were 
within  the  grasp  of  a  brave  heart  and  a  tireless  hand  ; 
and  I  accepted  the  responsibilities  of  my  position,  all  un 
conscious  that  I  was  a  '  slave.'  I  have  employed  others, 
—  hundreds  of  c  hireling  manual  laborers.'  Some  of 
them  then  possessed,  and  now  possess,  more  property 
than  I  ever  owned ;  some  of  them  were  better  educated 
than  myself,  —  yes,  sir,  better  educated,  and  better  read 
too,  than  some  senators  on  this  floor ;  and  many  of  them, 
in  moral  excellence  and  purity  of  character,  I  could  not 
but  feel,  were  my  superiors. 

"  I  have  occupied,  Mr.  President,  for  more  than  thirty 
years,  the  relation  of  employer  or  employed ;  and,  while  I 
never  felt  '  galled  by  my  degradation  '  in  the  one  case,  in 
the  other  I  was  never  conscious  that  my  '  hireling  laborers ' 
were  my  inferiors.  That  man  is  a  '  snob '  who  boasts  of 
being  a  '  hireling  laborer,'  or  who  is  ashamed  of  being  a 
4  hireling  laborer ; '  that  man  is  a  '  snob '  who  feels  any 
inferiority  to  any  man  because  he  is  a  4  hireling  laborer,' 
or  who  assumes  any  superiority  over  others  because  he  is 
an  employer.  Honest  labor  is  honorable  ;  and  the  man 
who  is  ashamed  that  he  is  or  was  a  '  hireling  laborer '  has 
not  manhood  enougli  to  '  feel  galled  by  his  degradation.' 

"  Having  occupied,  Mr.  President,  the  relation  of  either 

21 


242  LIFE  OF  HENBY   WILSON. 

employed  or  employer  for  the  third  of  a  century ;  having 
lived  in  a  Commonwealth  where  the  'hireling  class  of 
manual  laborers  '  are  '  the  depositaries  of  political  power  ; ' 
having  associated  with  this  class  in  all  the  relations  of  life, 
—  I  tell  the  senator  from  South  Carolina,  and  the  class  he 
represents,  that  he  libels,  grossly  libels  them,  when  he  de 
clares  that  they  are  'essentially  slaves.'  There  can  be 
found  nowhere  in  America  a  class  of  men  more  proudly 
conscious  or  tenacious  of  their  rights.  Friends  and  foes 
have  ever  found  them 

4  A  stubborn  race,  fearing  and  flattering  none.' 

"  But  the  senator  from  South  Carolina  tells  us,  that,  if 
the  hireling  laborers  knew  the  '  tremendous  secret '  of  the 
ballot-box,  our  '  society  would  be  reconstructed,  our  gov 
ernment  overthrown,  and  our  property  divided.'  Does  not 
the  senator  know  that  an  immense  majority  of  the  '  hire 
ling  class  of  manual  laborers  '  of  New  England  possess 
property  ?  Does  he  not  know  that  the  man  who  has  ac 
cumulated  a  few  hundred  dollars  by  his  own  toil,  by  the 
savings  of  years,  who  has  a  family  growing  up  around  him 
upon  which  his  hopes  are  centred,  is  a  conservative  ? 
Does  not  the  senator  know  that  he  watches  the  appropria 
tion-bills  in  the  meetings  of  those  little  democracies,  the 
towns,  as  narrowly  as  the  representative  from  Tennessee 
in  the  other  House  (George  W.  Jones)  watches  the  money- 
bills  on  the  private  calendar?  I  live,  Mr.  President, 
in  a  small  town  of  five  thousand  inhabitants.  Nearly 
half  of  the  population  are  employed  as  operatives  and  me 
chanics  for  the  manufacture  of  shoes  for  the  Western  and 
Southern  markets.  In  1840  we  had  thirteen  hundred  in 
habitants,  and  the  property  valuation  was  about  three  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars.  Last  May  we  had  fourteen  hun- 


EEPLY  TO  MK.   HAMMOND.  243 

dred  names  on  our  poll-list,  two-thirds  of  them  '  hireling 
mechanics,'  and  a  property  valuation  of  over  two  millions  of 
dollars.  Those  '  hireling  laborers/  on  town-meeting  days, 
make  the  appropriations  for  schools,  for  roads,  and  for  all 
other  purposes..  Do  they  not  know  4  the  tremendous  secret 
of  the  ballot-box '  ?  Have  they  proposed  to  divide  the 
property  they  themselves  created  ?  No,  sir  ;  no !  But  I 
will  tell  the  senator  what  they  have  done.  Since  1850 
they  have  built  seven  new  school  houses,  with  all  the  mod 
ern  improvements,  at  an  expense  of  about  forty  thousand 
dollars;  one  house  costing  more  than  fourteen  thousand. 
They  have  established  a  high  school,  where  the  most  ad 
vanced  scholars  of  the  common  schools  are  fitted  for  admis 
sion  to  the  colleges,  or  for  the  professions,  the  business, 
and  the  duties  of  life.  They  have  established  a  town- 
library,  freely  accessible  to  all  the  inhabitants,  contain 
ing  the  choicest  works  of  authors  of  the  Old  World  and  the 
New,  of  ancient  and  modern  times.  The  poorest  '  hireling 
manual  laborer,'  without  cost,  can  take  from  that  library  to 
his  home  the  works  of  the  master-minds,  and  hold  com 
munion  with 

*  The  dead  but  sceptred  sovereigns,  who  rule 
Our  spirits  from  their  urns.' 

"  The  senator  tells  us,  Mr.  President,  that  their  slaves 
are  '  well  compensated.'  South  Carolina  slaves  '  well 
compensated '  I  Why,  sir,  the  senator  himself,  in  a  speech 
made  at  home  for  home  consumption,  entered  into  an  esti 
mate  to  show  that  a  field-hand  could  be  supported  for  from 
'  eighteen  to  nineteen  dollars  per  annum '  on  the  rice  and 
cotton  plantations.  He  states  the  quantity  of  corn  and 
bacon  and  salt  necessary  to  support  the  '  well-compensated  ' 
slave.  And  this  man,  supported  by  eighteen  dollars  per 


214  LIFE  OF  HENKY  WILSON. 

annum,  with  the  privilege  of  being  flogged  at  discretion, 
and  having  his  wife  or  children  sold  from  him  at  the  neces 
sity  or  will  of  his  master,  the  senator  from  South  Carolina 
informs  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  is  '  well  compen 
sated  '  I  Sir,  there  is  not  a  poor-house  in  the  free  States 
where  there  would  not  be  a  rebellion  in  three  days  if  the 
inmates  were  compelled  to  subsist  on  the  quantity  and 
quality  of  food  the  senator  estimates  as  ample  '  compensa 
tion  '  for  the  labor  of  a  slave  in  South  Carolina. 

"  Turning  from  his  4  well-compensated '  slaves,  the  sena 
tor  tells  us  that  our  '  hireling  laborers,'  our  '  mud-sills,'  are 
scantily  '  compensated.'  Mr.  Clingman  of  North  Caro 
lina,  in  urging  the  establishment  of  cotton  manufactories 
in  the  South,  says  the  wages  of  labor  at  the  North  are  one 
hundred  per  cent  higher  than  wages  in  the  same  pursuits 
in  the  South.  The  wages  of  labor  in  iron  mills  in  South 
Carolina  were  thirteen  dollars  per  month  in  1850  :  in  Mas 
sachusetts  they  were  thirty.  Sir,  these  hands  of  mine  have 
earned,  month  after  month,  two  dollars  per  day  in  manual 
labor  ;  and  I  have  paid  that  sum  to  '  hireling  manual  labor 
ers  '  month  after  month,  and  year  after  year.  Financial 
and  commercial  revulsions  sometimes  come  upon  us,  and 
press  heavily  upon  all  branches  of  the  mechanic  arts 
and  manufactures ;  but  labor  is  generally  well  employed 
and  well  paid.  At  any  rate,  the  laboring-men  of  the  free 
States  have  open  to  their  industry  all  the  avenues  of  agri 
culture,  commerce,  manufactures,  and  the  multifarious 
mechanic  arts,  where  skilled  labor  is  demanded,  and  where 
they  do  not  have  to  maintain,  as  the  senator  in  his  address 
before  the  institute  of  his  own  State  tells  us  the  white 
men  of  South  Carolina  have  to  maintain,  '  a  feeble  and 
ruinous  competition  with  the  labor  of  slaves.7 

"  Borrowing,  Mr.  President,  an  idea  found  in  a  speech 


REPLY  TO  ME.    HAMMOND.  245 

made  in  the  other  House  by  Mr.  Pickens  of  his  own  State 
more  than  twenty  years  ago,  in  which  he  threatened  to 
preach  insurrection  to  Northern  laborers,  the  senator  asks 
'how  we  would  like  for  them  to  send  lecturers  and  agitators 
to  teach  our  hireling  laborers  '  the  4  tremendous  secret  of  the 
power  of  the  ballot-box,'  and  '  to  aid  in  combining  them 
and  to  lead  them.'  Sir,  I  tell  the  senator  we  would  wel 
come  him,  his  lecturers  and  agitators  ;  we  would  bid  them 
welcome  to  our  hearth-stones  and  our  altars.  Ours  are 
the  institutions  of  freedom  ;  and  they  flourish  best  in  the 
storms  and  agitations  of  inquiry  and  free  discussion.  We 
are  conscious  that  our  social  and  political  institutions  have 
not  attained  perfection ;  and  we  invoke  the  examination  and 
the  criticism  of  the  genius*  and  learning  of  all  Christen 
dom.  Should  the  senator  and  his  agitators  and  lecturers 
come  to  Massachusetts  on  a  mission  to  teach  our  '  hire 
ling  class  of  manual  laborers,'  our  'mud-sills,'  our  'slaves/ 
the  'tremendous  secret  of  the  ballot-box,'  and  to  help 
'  combine  and  lead  them,'  these  stigmatized  '  hirelings  ' 
would  reply  to  the  senator  and  his  associates,  '  We  are 
freemen ;  we  are  the  peers  of  the  gifted  and  the  wealthy ; 
we  know  the  "  tremendous  secret  of  the  ballot-box  ;  "  and 
we  mould  and  fashion  these  institutions  that  bless  and  adorn 
our  proud  and  free  Commonwealth.  These  public  schools 
are  ours,  for  the  education  of  our  children ;  these  libraries, 
with  their  accumulated  treasures,  are  ours  ;  these  multitu 
dinous  and  varied  pursuits  of  life,  where  intelligence  and 
skill  find  their  reward,  are  ours.  Labor  is  here  honored 
and  respected,  and  great  examples  incite  us  to  action.  All 
around  us, — in  the  professions ;  in  the  marts  of  commerce; 
on  the  exchange,  where  merchant-princes  and  capitalists  do 
congregate ;  in  these  manufactories  and  workshops,  where 
the  products  of  every  clime  are  fashioned  into  a  thousand 

21* 


246  LIFE  OP  HENEY  WILSON. 

forms  of  utility  and  beauty  ;  on  these  smiling  farms,  fertil 
ized  by  the  sweat  of  free  labor ;  in  every  position  of  pri 
vate  and  of  public  life,  —  are  our  associates,  who  were  but 
yesterday  "  hireling  laborers,"  "  mud-sills,"  "  slaves."  In 
every  department  of  human  effort  are  noble  men,  who 
sprang  from  our  ranks,  —  men  whose  good  deeds  will  be 
felt,  and  will  live  in  the  grateful  memories  of  men,  when 
the  stones  reared  by  the  hands  of  affection  to  their  honored 
names  shall  crumble  into  dust.  Our  eyes  glisten  and  our 
hearts  throb  over  the  bright,  glowing,  and  radiant  pages 
of  our  history,  that  record  the  deeds  of  patriotism  of  the 
sons  of  New  England,  who  sprang  from  our  ranks,  and  wore 
the  badges  of  toil.  While  the  names  of  Benjamin  Frank 
lin,  Roger  Sherman,  Nathanael  Greene,  and  Paul  Revere, 
live  on  the  brightest  pages  of  our  history,  the  mechanics 
of  Massachusetts  and  New  England  will  never  want  illus 
trious  examples  to  incite  us  to  noble  aspirations  and  noble 
deeds.  Go  home  :  say  to  your  privileged  class,  which,  you 
vauntingly  say,  "  leads  progress,  civilization,  and  refine 
ment,"  that  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  "  hireling  laborers  "  of 
Massachusetts,  if  you  have  no  sympathy  for  your  African 
bondmen,  in  whose  veins  flows  so  much  of  your  own  blood, 
you  should  at  least  sympathize  with  the  millions  of  your  own 
race,  whose  labor  you  have  dishonored  and  degraded  by 
slavery.  You  should  teach  your  millions  of  poor  and  igno 
rant  white  men,  so  long  oppressed  by  your  policy,  the  "  tre 
mendous  secret,  that  the  ballot-box  is  stronger  than  '  an  army 
with  banners.'  "  You  should  combine,  and  lead  them  to  the 
adoption  of  a  policy  which  shall  secure  their  own  emanci 
pation  from  a  degrading  thraldom.' ' 

He  concludes  his  argument  with  these  strong  and  earnest 
words  of  counsel :  — 

"  Duty  to  the  government  now  prostituted  and  polluted, 


REPLY  TO  ME.   HAMMOND.  247 

to  the  country  now  dishonored  in  the  face  of  the  civilized 
world,  summons  the  liberty-loving  and  patriotic  men  of  the 
republic,  of  every  name  and  creed,  to  '  forget,  forgive,  and 
unite,'  and  rally  to  the  overthrow  of  this  venal,  cringing, 
and  inglorious  administration,  and  to  the  utter  annihilation 
of  the  oligarchic  Democracy.  To  the  men  of  the  North, 
ay,  and  the  men  of  the  South,  who  loathe  fraud,  paltry 
trickery,  venality,  and  servility,  who  believe  that  '  right 
eousness  exalteth  a  nation,'  this  summons  alike  appeals. 
But  to  no  men  does  this  summons  appeal  with  such  irresisti 
ble  and  imperative  force  as  to  the  '  whole  hireling  class  of 
manual  laborers  and  operatives,'  now  disdainfully  stigma 
tized  as  the  '  slaves,'  the  '  very  mud-sills,'  of  that  society 
upon  which  that  privileged  class  assumes  to  rest  which  now 
claims  to  control  this  government,  and  '  to  lead  progress, 
civilization,  and  refinement '  in  America.  It  appeals  to 
them  to  repel  the  libellous  aspersions  cast  upon  the  toiling 
millions  of  America,  by  taking,  through  the  ballot-box,  the 
reins  of  power  from  the  grasp  of  the  slaveholding  aristoc 
racy  of  the  South  and  their  servile  allies  of  the  North  ; 
rebuking  the  arrogance  of  the  one  by  banishment  from 
usurped  power,  and  the  servility  of  the  other  by  putting 
upon  their  breasts  the  '  Scarlet  Letter '  of  dishonor.  It 
appeals  to  them  to  place  in  every  department  of  the  Federal 
Government  statesmen  who  cherish  a  profound  reverence 
and  an  inextinguishable  love  for  humanity ;  who  are  ani 
mated  by  lofty  motives,  aims,  and  purposes ;  guided  by 
wise,  comprehensive,  and  patriotic  counsels  ;  and  who  will 
put  the  republic  in  harmony  with  the  sacred  and  inaliena 
ble  rights  of  mankind." 

During  this  session  Mr.  Wilson  received  a  challenge 
from  Mr.  Gwin  of  California  for  some  words  spoken  has 
tily  in  debate.  He  replied  to  it,  as  he  had  done  to  that 


248  LIFE  OF  HENBY  WILSON. 

of  Mr.  Brooks,  by  saying,  that,  while  he  held  to  the  right 
of  self-defence,  he  did  not,  as  was  well  known,  accept  the 
code  of  the  duellist.  He  was  willing  to  refer  the  difference 
between  Mr.  Gwin  and  himself  to  any  three  members  of 
the  Senate,  and  abide  by  their  decision.  Messrs.  Seward, 
Crittenden,  and  Davis  were  selected,  who  on  the  12th  of 
June  drew  up  the  following  agreement :  — 

WASHINGTON,  June  12,  1858. 

GENTLEMEN,  —  We  have  made  ourselves  acquainted 
with  the  circumstances  and  facts  involved  in  the  case  sub 
mitted  to  us. 

The  remarks  of  Mr.  Gwin,  imputing  unworthy  motives  — 
namely,  those  of  demagogism  —  to  Mr.  Wilson,  although 
general,  certainly  were  objectionable  and  unparliament 
ary  ;  and  yet  they  by  no  means  justified  or  warranted 
Mr.  Wilson  in  using  the  very  opprobrious  epithet  with 
which  he  retaliated.  Mr.  Gwin's  rejoinder  in  contume 
lious  terms  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  passionate  expression, 
naturally  provoked  by  the  offensive  language  of  Mr.  Wil 
son.  We  think,  therefore,  that  Mr.  Wilson  ought  to 
regard  himself  in  fact  as  having  committed  the  first  real 
personal  offence;  and  therefore  he  should  make  such 
reparation  as  is  now  in  his  power.  We  are  possessed  of 
the  fact,  —  which,  indeed,  is  apparent  on  the  face  of  the 
reported  debate,  —  that  Mr.  Wilson,  in  using  the  epithet 
employed,  did  not  impute  any  want  of  personal  integrity 
or  honor  to  Mr.  Gwin,  but  merely  reflected  upon  his  course 
in  legislation  in  regard  to  California,  which  Mr.  Wilson 
deemed  extravagant  and  wasteful ;  although  the  expression 
is  obviously  liable  to  an  offensive  and  dishonoring  con 
struction.  With  this  disclaimer  adopted  by  Mr.  Wilson, 
we  hold  that  Mr.  Gwin  is  bound  to  withdraw  the  re- 


MUTUAL  BETE  ACTION.  249 

proachful  language  in  which  he  replied  to  Mr.  Wilson. 
The  disavowal  required  of  Mr.  Wilson,  and  the  withdrawal 
demanded  from  Mr.  Gwin,  shall  be  deemed  to  have  been 
made  by  them,  respectively,  when  they  shall  have  expressed 
in  writing  their  assent  to  this  report. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
WM.  H.  SEWARD. 
JEFFN.  DAVIS. 
To  Messrs.  WILSON  and  GWIN. 

I  assent  to  the  above. 

HENRY  WILSON. 

I  assent  to  the  above. 

WM.  M.  GWIN, 

The  parties  were  satisfied  with  the  mutual  explanation 
and  concession;  and  thus  the  matter  ended.  Duelling 
belongs  to  the  medieval  ages ;  and  so  this  Northern  senator 
again  decided. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

RE-ELECTION    TO    THE   UNITED-STATES     SENATE.  — - PACIFIC 

RAILROAD. ORATION  AT  LAWRENCE. THE  JOHN 

BROWN    RAID. THE   SLAVE-TRADE. 


Re-elected  by  a  Large  Majority.  —  Reasons  for  it.  —  His  Industry.  —  Patron 
age. —  Advocates  Central  .Route  for  the  Pacific  Railroad.  —  Extract  from 
his  Speech.  —  A  Radical  Southern  Party.  —  A  Personal  Interview.  —  His 
Course.  — Temperance  Meeting.  —  Printers'  Banquet.  —  Paul  Morphy.  — 
Fourth  of  July  at  Lawrence.  —  His  Address.  —  His  Course  in  respect  to  the 
Raid  of  John  Brown.  —  Meeting  at  Natick.  —  Reply  to  Mr.  Iverson.  —  Vote 
of  Thanks  by  the  General  Court.  —  Speech  on  the  Slave-Trade. 


IN  January,  1859,  the  General  Court  re-elected  Mr. 
Wilson  to  the  United  -  States  Senate  for  six  years 
from  the  3d  of  March  in  that  year  ;  the  higher  branch 
giving  him  thirty-five  out  of  forty  votes,  and  the  lower 
a  hundred  and  ninety  -  nine  out  of  two  hundred  and 
thirty-five  votes.  His  record  had  been  clear,  his  labors 
arduous ;  his  legislative  experience  now  was  large ;  his 
courage  had  been  tested.  The  times  demanded  men  of 
steady  nerve ;  and  hence  this  strong  majority  was  given 
to  him.  The  expectation  was  not  disappointed  ;  for  he  is 
one  of  the  very  few  whom  life  at  Washington  does  not 
corrupt. 

In  looking  over  the  files  of  "  The  Congressional  Globe," 
we  find  him  with  tireless  industry  taking  part  in  the  dis- 

250 


PACIFIC  RAILBOAD.  251 

cussions  on  the  questions  of  the  day,  advocating  retrench 
ment  in  postal,  naval,  and  every  other  department  of 
the  government. 

O 

In  respect  to  patronage  he  truly  said,  "  I  think  it  should 
be  the  interest  of  all  parties  to  get  clear  of  patronage ;  for 
patronage  is  only  weakness,  if  you  have  any  principles  to 
carry." 

Of  the  projects  for  internal  improvement  at  that  time 
before  Congress,  one  of  the  most  important  was  the  con 
struction  of  a  railroad  across  the  continent.  Mr.  Davis  had 
caused  extensive  explorations  to  be  made,  and  three  routes 
for  the  road  were  indicated.  The  Southerners  advocated 
the  line  through  Arizona,  called  the  "  Disunion  route," 
because  some  senators  had  avowed  that  they  should  own 
it  on  the  dissolution  of  the  Union.  The  administration 
favored  them  ;  but,  on  the  eleventh  day  of  January,  Mr. 
Wilson,  in  a  speech  displaying  vast  research  and  great  abil 
ity,  clearly  pointed  out  the  impracticability  of  that  line,  and 
advocated  the  adoption  of  the  central  route,  which  was 
finally  agreed  upon,  through  Nebraska  and  Nevada.  Econ 
omy,  freedom,  and  the  business  of  the  country,  alike  de 
manded  that  the  road  should  run  in  this  direction ;  and 
the  gigantic  scheme  could  not  be  carried  into  effect,  he 
said,  without  the  liberal  aid  of  government.  From  the 
array  of  facts  which  he  presented,  one  might  have  thought 
that  "railroading"  had  been  the  principal  study  of  his  life, 
and  travelling  in  the  "  Far  West "  his  diversion.  This 
speech  turned  the  attention  of  the  public  more  directly  to 
the  central  line,  and  greatly  encouraged  the  friends  of  prog 
ress  in  the  East  to  enter  upon  the  construction  of  the 
road.  The  Hon.  A.  A.  Sargent  of  California,  who,  like 
Mr.  Wilson,  is  a  self-made,  practical  man,  subsequently 
pressed  with  the  same  energy  the  construction  of  the  Cen- 


252  LIFE  OF  HENKY  WILSON. 

tral  Pacific  road  ;  and,  after  years  of  persevering  effort, 
the  driving  of  the  golden  spike  connecting  the  Union 
Pacific  with  that  road  gave  these  two  gentlemen  inex 
pressible  delight.  We  regret  that  we  can  give  but  a 
single  extract  from  Mr.  Wilson's  admirable  speech :  — 

"  I  think,"  said  he,  u  the  course  I  have  proposed  is  that 
suggested  by  sound  policy  ;  and  I  should  like  to  recommit 
this  bill,  or  in  some  way  put  it  in  such  a  shape,  that  we 
shall,  as  a  government,  undertake  the  construction  of  a 
railroad  starting  between  the  mouths  of  the  Big  Sioux  and 
Kansas  Rivers,  crossing  the  continent  to  San  Francisco  on 
a  line  north  of  the  thirty-fifth  or  thirty-sixth  parallel,  and 
south  of  the  forty- third  parallel.  Let  that  be  a  great  na 
tional  work  :  for  the  idea  of  the  country  is  to  go  to  San 
Francisco,  where  there  is  population ;  not  to  Puget  Sound, 
where  there  is  none ;  and  not  to  San  JDiego,  where  there 
never  can  be  any.  Then  let  us  give  our  Southern  friends, 
those  gentlemen  who  want  a  road  on  which  they  can  go  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean  when  they  dissolve  the  Union,  all  the 
lands  they  want  south  of  the  thirty-fourth  parallel,  and  let 
them  make  the  most  of  them.  I  hope  they  may  make 
a  hundred  million  dollars  o.ut  of  them  ;  for  I  should  rejoice 
in  their  prosperity.  Then  let  us  give  lands  on  the  northern 
line,  and  carry  out  the  ideas  suggested  by  the  senator  from 
Minnesota  and  the  senator  from  Wisconsin.  What  they 
want  in  that  vast  northern  region  is  a  people.  They  want 
settlers  :  and  a  policy  of  this  kind  will  carry  settlers  from 
Lake  Superior  a  thousand  miles  to  the  Rocky  Mountains ; 
and,  if  the  engineers  who  went  over  this  route  are  to  be 
believed,  even  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  is  to  be  found  good 
land.  Beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  Puget  Sound, 
there  will  be  found  not  only  a  great  country,  but  across 
that  line,  in  time,  I  do  not  doubt  we  are  to  have  a  great 


PACIFIC   EAILEOAD.  253 

commercial  route  connecting  the  northern  lakes  with 
Puget  Sound. 

44  These  are  my  views.  I  am  for  a  Pacific  railroad  ;  but 
I  do  not  believe  in  the  idea  of  attempting  to  construct  a 
road  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  merely  by  grants  of  land  within 
any  reasonable  period.  If  we  make  a  grant  to  the  north 
ern  line,  I  do  not  expect  a  road  to  be  built  there  for  some 
time.  I  do  not  even  expect  it  to  be  commenced  at  once. 
I  know  it  cannot  be  done  in  earnest  in  the  present 
financial  condition  of  the  world.  Neither  do  I  expect  any 
such  thing  over  the  southern  line.  But  we  want  a  cen 
tral  road  ;  we  want  it  begun  now ;  we  want  it  completed 
as  speedily  as  possible  ;  and,  to  do  that,  let  us  take  the 
money  of  the  government,  and  build  it  as  cheaply  as  cash 
can  build  it,  and  keep  the  lands,  reserving  their  proceeds 
as  a  sinking  fund  to  meet  the  bonds,  which  may  be  made 
due  thirty  or  forty  years  hence.  We  shall  then  have 
seventy  or  eighty  million  people  ;  and  their  redemption 
will  be  but  a  light  tax  on  such  a  nation.  During  that 
period,  in  my  judgment,  it  will  have  added  hundreds  of 
millions  to  the  wealth  of  the  country  ;  and  the  addition  it 
will  make  tc  the  power  and  strength  of  the  Union  is 
beyond  the  calculation  of  the  human  intellect." 

On  the  18th  of  February  he  thus  referred  to  the  exist 
ence  of  a  party,  little  thought  4of  at  the  time,  which  was 
ready  to  dissolve  the  Union :  — 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  the  declarations  made  by  the  senator 
from  South  Carolina ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  they  are  sub 
stantially  correct.  No  doubt,  a  large  portion  of  the  people 
of  the  Southern  States  are  opposed  to  the  African  slave- 
trade  :  but  that  there  is  a  party,  young,  vigorous,  and 
active,  that  wishes  to  open  the  slave-trade ;  a  party 
that  wishes  to  extend  the  country  into  the  tropics ;  a 


254  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

party  that  believes  not  only  in  compulsory  labor  in  the 
tropics,  but  everywhere  else ;  a  party  that  wishes  to 
govern  this  country  under  that  policy,  and,  failing  to  do 
that,  to  establish  a  Southern  confederacy,  and  dissolve  this 
Union,  —  there  is  evidence.  There  is  such  a  party.  Now, 
I  want  the  Senate,  I  want  Congress,  to  sustain  the  contract 
made  by  the  president :  and  let  it  be  understood  in  the 
North  and  in  the  South,  by  all  parties,  that  this  country 
has  branded  the  slave-trade ;  that  it  can  never  be  opened  ; 
that  the  power  and  influence  of  this  nation  shall  be  used  to 
put  it  down  ;  and  that  we  will  go  to  the  full  extent,  not 
only  of  the  letter  of  the  law,  but  the  spirit  of  the  law,  to 
sustain  this  policy." 

In  a  personal  interview  with  one  of  his  friends,  April 
25,  1859,  Mr.  Wilson,  speaking  of  the  members  of  the 
Senate,  said,  "  Mr.  Collamer  of  Vermont  knows  the  most 
of  politics,  but  has  no  oratory ;  Fessenden  of  Maine  is  the 
best  debater,  but  has  no  facts  ;  Seward  is  very  able,  and 
may  run  for  president ;  Toombs  is  indomitable  ;  Davis  is 
high-spirited  ;  Yulee  and  Gwin  are  mercenary  ;  and  John 
P.  Hale  is  wide-awake,  but  not  sufficiently  industrious. 
The  Senate  of  to-day  is  abler  than  the  Senate  of  twenty 
years  ago :  few  then  entered  into  debate  ;  but  all  at 
present  take  a  part,  and  evince  ability.  My  own  course 
for  the  last  sixteen  years  Jias  been  one  and  straight :  my 
constant  aim  has  been  to  do  the  very  best  thing  I  could 
against  slavery.  In  every  party  I  have  used  my  influence 
for  this  purpose.  I  aim  to  move  straight  forward  in  the 
Senate  ;  and  my  highest  ambition  is  to  have  it  said,  when 
my  career  is  over,  4  He  acted  for  the  good  of  humanity 
and  the  rights  of  man.'  I  am  no  orator  ;  but  my  memory 
is  retentive,  and  facts  and  principles  I  try  to  state  with 
accuracy  and  clearness."  He  was  then  in  the  best  of  health 


TEMPERANCE  FESTIVAL.  255 

and  spirits,  and  preparing  speeches  —  one  on  Cuba,  an 
other  on  the  District  of  Columbia  —  for  the  coming  session. 

Although  Mr.  Wilson  was  so  profoundly  occupied  in 
national  affairs,  he  still  took  time  to  attend  the  gatherings 
and  to  mingle  in  the  innocent  diversions  of  the  people.  Of 
ceaseless  activity,  he  seemed  sometimes  almost  ubiquitous. 
Now  we  find  him  addressing  the  people  at  a  picnic,  now 
present  at  the  examination  of  a  school,  and  now  telling 
stories  at  a  temperance  festival ;  never  seeking  pleasure, 
but  imparting  it  to  multitudes  of  his  fellow-men  as  he  went 
along. 

We  meet  him  in  May  at  a  temperance  festival  at  the 
Adams  House,  where  to  this  sentiment,  "  Our  country, 
—  with  wisdom  in  her  councils,  and  temperance  among 
her  people,  she  shall  command  the  respect  and  admiration 
of  the  world,"  —  he  is  thus  reported  to  have  respond 
ed  :— 

44  The  hand  of  intemperance  had,  from  his  childhood, 
been  laid  upon  him,  and  very  early  in  life  he  had  resolved 
to  be  temperate  himself  at  all  times.  Twenty-seven  years 
ago  he  signed  the  pledge,  which  he  had  ever  since  kept. 
He  alluded  to  the  intemperance  which  prevailed  among 
the  statesmen  of  the  country,  and  said  many  of  those  men 
were  sinking  under  the  baleful  and  withering  curse.  He 
wished  that  the  words  of  the  sentiment  to  which  he  had 
been  called  upon  to  respond  had  been  reversed,  and  that 
it  had  read,  4  wisdom  among  her  people,  and  temperance 
in  her  councils.'  He  spoke  'in  the  highest  terms  of  the 
Sons  of  Temperance  in  general,  and  the  Crystal-fount 
Division  in  particular." 

Now  we  see  him  in  the  same  month  at  the  printers' 
banquet  held  at  the  Revere  House,  where  to  the  senti 
ment,  "The  National  Legislature,  —  the  right  arm  of 


256  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

the    American   people,"  —  he   made   this  appropriate  re 
spouse : — 

"  The  National  Legislature  deserved  all  that  was  said  of 
it  in  that  sentiment.  If  there  was  a  class  of  men  who 
voted  long  speeches  a  bore,  it  was  printers.  He  would, 
therefore,  be  short.  He  spoke  of  his  knowledge  of  printers 
as  gathered  from  his  connection  with  a  newspaper  nine  or 
ten  years  ago.  There  was  no  class  of  men  that  toiled  with 
more  fidelity,  or  should  receive  more  support  from  every 
citizen.  He  saw  here  men  from  all  parts  of  the  country, 
and  especially  the  men  from  other  States  who  often  set  up 
very  unpleasant  allusions  to  him  (laughter)  :  he  welcomed 
them  warmly,  one  and  all,  and  closed  with,  — 

"  The  National  Printers'  Union,  —  May  its  laudable 
efforts  to  promote  the  interests,  elevate  the  position,  and 
improve  the  characters,  of  the  printers  of  the  United  States, 
be  crowned  with  abundant  success !  " 

A  few  days  afterwards  (June  1)  he  was  present  at  a 
meeting  in  honor  of  Mr.  Paul  Morphy,  the  American 
chess-player,  at  the  same  hotel,  where,  on  the  announce 
ment  of  the  tenth  regular  toast,  "  Our  national  repre 
sentatives,  —  their  position  gives  them  a  special  interest  in 
national  success," —  he  most  fittingly  replied,  "  I  suppose  we 
all  feel  proud  of  the  achievements  of  our  American  repre 
sentatives  in  the  Old  World.  We  all  unite  to  do  honor 
to  him  who  has  achieved  honor  for  the  American  nation 
abroad.  As  we  have  read  of  his  brilliant  achievements 
with  pride  and  admiration,  we  have  loved  him  because  he 
has  been  throughout  a  modest  and  quiet  American  gentle 
man.  Surrounded  as  Mr.  Morphy  has  been  by  royalty, 
learning,  and  genius,  in  all  his  splendid  triumphs  he  has 
borne  himself  with  modesty,  and  he  ought  to  be  welcomed 
by  every  American.  We  have  witnessed  here  to-night 


ORATION  AT  LA  WHENCE.  .       257 

his  modest  demeanor  and  noble  carriage  with  pleasure.  In 
conclusion,  he  gave  this  sentiment :  "  The  modest  bearing 
of  your  guest,  —  worthy  the  imitation  of  American  schol 
ars,  artists,  jurists,  and  statesmen,  who  uphold  the  intellect 
ual  character  of  America  among  the  nations." 

Among  other  labors  in  the  summer  of  this  year,  Mr. 
Wilson  delivered  an  eloquent  oration  on  the  celebration 
of  the  4th  of  July  by  the  civil  authorities  and  people 
of  the  city  of  Lawrence,  Mass.  The  preparations  for 
the  occasion  were  extensive,  the  expectations  of  the  vast 
throng  of  people  high  ;  but  they  were  more  than  realized 
in  the  patriotic  fervor  and  the  manly  eloquence  of  the 
speaker.  His  introduction  breathes  the  very  spirit  of  the 
founders  of  our  civil  liberty.  In  it  he  says,  — 

"  To-day,  fellow-citizens,  the  golden  light  of  the  eighty- 
third  anniversary  of  '  the  day  of  deliverance '  is  above 
and  around  us ;  to-day  l  the  rays  of  ravishing  light  and 
glory,'  which  gladdened  the  soul  of  the  impassioned  4  Co 
lossus  of  independence '  amidst  the  storm  and  blood  of 
civil  war,  flash  upon  the  glowing  faces  of  twenty-five  mil 
lions  of  American  freemen,  whose  hearts  swell  with  patri 
otic  pride  on  the  return  of  this  anniversary  of  the  birthday 
of  the  republic.  Over  this  broad  land,  from  the  shores 
which  first  welcomed  the  weary  feet  of  the  Pilgrims  to 
the  golden  sands  which  have  lured  their  descendants  to 
the  distant  shores  of  the  Pacific,  throughout  the  vast 
breadth  of  our  ever-expanding  republic,  age  with  its 
ripe  and  rich  experiences,  manhood  in  the  maturity  and 
vigor  of  its  powers,  and  youth  with  its  fresh  hopes  and 
glowing  aspirations,  are  joyfully  mingling  in  the  scenes, 
associations,  and  memories  of  this  'anniversary  festival' 
of  the  '  most  memorable  epoch  in  the  history  of  America.' 
To-day  the  teeming  millions  of  America,  in  her  cities,  vil- 

22* 


258       .  LIFE  OF  HENftY  WILSON. 

lages,  and  hamlets,  on  her  broad  prairies,  rich  valleys,  and 
laughing  hillsides,  and  by  her  mountains,  lakes,  and  rivers, 
welcome  with  exultant  hearts  this  day,  on  which  we  give 
a  truce  to  the  strifes  of  sentiment  and  opinion,  passion 
and  interest,  and  remember  only  that  we  are  all  Ameri 
cans,  the  citizens  of  the  foremost  republic  of  the  world." 

Having  described  the  spirit  which  prompted  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  he  proceeds  :  — 

"  These  sublime  ideas  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence  express  the  whole  creed  of  the  equality  of  humanity, 
the  basis  of  government,  and  the  rights  of  the  people.  They 
speak  to  the  universal  heart  of  mankind.  They  declare  to 
kings  and  princes,  and  nobles  and  statesmen,  '  Govern 
ments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed,  to  secure  the  inalienable 
rights  of  men  to  liberty  ; '  they  proclaim  to  toiling  millions, 
*  Whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes  destructive 
of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  abolish 
it ; '  they  utter  in  the  hungry  ears  of  lowly  bondmen,  « All 
men  are  created  equal,'  and  '  endowed  with  the  inalienable 
rights  of  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.'  These 
4 self-evident  truths'  may  be  hated  and  spurned  by  the 
monarch,  in  the  arrogance  of  unrestricted  power;  they 
may  be  scoffed  at  and  jeered  at  by  the  noble,  hedged  about 
with  ancient  privileges  ;  they  may  be  limited,  qualified,  or 
denied,  by  the  ignoble  politician,  whose  apostasy  is  revealed 
and  rebuked  by  the  brilliancy  of  their  steady  light ;  they 
may  be  sneered  at  as. '  glittering  generalities '  by  the  nerve 
less  conservative,  who  '  has  ever  opposed  every  useful  re 
form,  and  wailed  over  every  rotten  institution  as  it  fell : ' 
but  they  live  in  the  throbbing  hearts  of  the  toiling  mil 
lions,  and  they  nurse  the  wavering  hopes  of  hapless  bond 
men  amidst  the  thick  gloom  of  rayless  oppression.  When 


ORATION  AT  LAWRENCE.  259 

the  Christian  shall  erase  from  the  book  of  life  the  precious 
words,  '  Do  unto  others  as  ye  would  that  others  should  do 
unto  you,'  '  Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,'  then  may  the 
sincere  lover  of  human  freedom  blur,  blot,  and  erase  from 
the  language  of  humanity  these  immortal  words  embodied 
by  our  fathers  in  the  Declaration  of  the  4th  of  July,  1776. 
These  words,  these  ideas,  which  underlie  the  institutions 
of  the  republic,  associate  the  name  of  America  with  the 
cause  of  universal  freedom  and  progress  all  over  the  globe. 
We  may  be  recreant  to  these  ideas  ;  we  may  ignobly  fail: 
but  the  incorporation  of  these  sacred  ideas  with  the  char 
ter  of  national  independence  will  bear  the  name  of  the 
North-American  republic  down  to  coming  ages,  and  win 
for  it  the  grateful  homage  and  lasting  remembrance  of 
mankind." 

Announcing  his  theme  as  "  Our  country  at  that  period 
and  our  country  of  to-day,"  he  said, — 

"  How  wonderful  the  contrast !  The  thirteen  colonies 
of  that  day  have  expanded  into  thirty-three  sovereign 
commonwealths,  —  glittering  constellations  that  revolve  in 
their  orbits  round  the  great  central  sun  of  the  North- 
American  Union.  The  two  and  a  half  millions  of  British 
colonists  that  timidly  clung  to  the  shores  of  the  seas  have 
multiplied  into  twenty-five  millions  of  freemen,  who  have 
crossed  the  ridges  of  the  Alleghanies,  spread  over  the  broad 
basin  of  the  Great  Lakes,  the  Mississippi,  and  the  Missouri, 
and  passed  through  the  defiles  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to 
the  golden  shores  of  the  Pacific.  The  weak  confederacy  of 
dependent  colonies  has  developed  into  a  central  Union,  — 
a  National  Government,  —  whose  name  is  known  to  the 
nations,  and  whose  power  is  acknowledged  by  all  mankind. 
Upon  the  soil  where  stood  two  and  a  half  millions  of  colo 
nists  to  meet  the  shock  of  battle  in  defence  of  perilled  lib- 


260  LIFE  OF  HENRY   WILSON. 

erty  stand  two  and  a  half  millions  of  enrolled  men,  ready  to 
leap  at  the  summons  of  patriotism,  to  hurl  into  the  seas  any 
force  that  shall  press  the  soil  of  the  republic  with  hostile 
feet. 

"  The  territory  embraced  in  the  thirteen  colonies  on  the 
Atlantic  slope  of  the  Alleghanies  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776, 
contained  less  than  three  hundred  thousand  square  miles  : 
to-day  the  territory  embraced  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
Union  exceeds  three  millions  of  square  miles.  The  boun 
daries  of  the  republic  are  to  be  still  farther  extended. 
Unroll  the  map  of  North  America,  trace  out  upon  that 
map  the  boundaries  of  other  powers,  study  their  position, 
and  comprehend  their  condition  and  character,  and  the 
conviction  will  flash  upon  the  mind  that  expansion  is  the 
destiny  of  the  United  States.  God  grant  that  this  inevi 
table  expansion  may  be  in  harmony  with  justice,  with  a 
scrupulous  regard  for  the  rights  of  other  nations  and  races, 
and  with  the  equal  rights  of  mankind  ! 

"  Great  as  has  been  the  extension  of  the  limits  of  the 
country,  population  has  kept  abreast  of  that  extension. 
The  sun  of  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  went  down  on  less 
than  two  and  a  half  millions  of  freemen :  to-day  the  sun 
casts  his  beams  on  twenty-five  millions  of  freemen  in 
America.  The  accumulation  of  wealth  has  more  than 
kept  pace  with  the  extension  of  territory  and  the  increase 
of  population.  The  wealth  of  the  thirteen  colonies  in  1776 
did  not  exceed  the  wealth  of  the  young  Commonwealth  of 
Ohio  in  1859 :  the  value  of  the  real  and  personal  property 
in  the  United  States  is  now  estimated  at  eleven  thousand 
millions  of  dollars.  Under  the  restrictive  and  repressive 
colonial  policy  of  England,  the  annual  productive  industry 
of  the  colonies  was  small  indeed :  now  it  is  estimated  at 
three  thousand  millions  of  dollars,  five  hundred  millions 


OKATION   AT   LAWRENCE.  261 

of  which  are  exchanged  between  the  States,  and  three  hun« 
dred  millions  exported  to  foreign  lands.  This  extension  of 
territory,  this  increase  of  population,  this  accumulation  of 
wealth,  far  transcends  all  the  most  comprehensive  minds 
ever  conceived,  and  baffles  even  the  predictions  of  enthu 
siasts. 

'.'  At  the  dawn  of  the  Revolution,  agriculture  was  the 
chief  occupation  of  the  people  ;  but  the  condition  of  the 
colonies  limited  the  quality  and  value  of  production  :  now 
more  than  three  hundred  millions  of  acres  are  devoted  to 
agriculture ;  these  farms  and  plantations  are  valued  at 
four  thousand  millions,  tilled  by  four  millions  of  men,  and 
produce  nearly  eighteen  hundred  millions  of  products. 

"  The  narrow  colonial  and  commercial  policy  of  England 
limited  the  variety,  checked  the  production,  and  depressed 
the  value,  of  manufactures  and  the  mechanic  arts  in 
America.  British  manufacturers  demanded  the  monopoly 
of  the  colonial  markets  ;  British  navigation  demanded  the 
monopoly  of  the  carrying-trade  of  the  colonies.  Manufac 
tures  and  mechanic  arts,  commerce  and  navigation,  lan 
guished  under  the  depressing  effects  of  British  legislation. 
The  ships  the  mechanics  of  New  England  and  New  York 
launched  upon  the  deep  were  not  permitted  to  carry  to  their 
markets  the  rice,  indigo,  and  tobacco  of  the  South  ;  and 
these  ships  were  forced  to  seek  the  products  of  Continental 
Europe,  of  Asia,  and  the  Orient,  in  the  storehouses  of 
England. 

"  In  1850  the  capital  invested  in  more  than  a  hundred 
thousand  establishments  was  five  hundred  and  thirty 
millions,  the  number  of  persons  employed  more  than  a 
million,  and  the  value  of  the  production  more  than  a 
thousand  millions.  In  1776  the  cotton-plant  bloomed  un- 
gathered,  and  its  manufacture  was  hardly  known  :  now 


262  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

more  than  seven  hundred  thousand  acres,  tilled  by  nearly 
nine  hundred  thousand  persons,  are  devoted  to  its  culture ; 
and'the  capital  invested  in  its  manufacture  is  more  than  eighty 
millions,  the  number  of  persons  engaged  in  its  manufac 
ture  a  hundred  thousand,  and  the  value  of  the  production 
seventy  millions.  At  the  opening  of  the  war  of  independ 
ence,  the  imports  and  exports,  burdened  by  the  repressive 
commercial  policy  of  England,  did  not  exceed  the  trade 
with  the  British  Provinces  on  the  north  at  this  time ;  and 
these  imports  and  exports  were  chiefly  monopolized  by 
British  navigation  :  now  our  imports  and  exports  amount 
annually  to  six  hundred  millions  of  dollars  ;  and  the  annual 
arrivals  and  clearances  are  forty  thousand,  with  an  inward 
and  outward  tonnage  of  eleven  millions  of  tons.  The 
tonnage  of  the  United  States  is  more  than  five  millions  of 
tons,  —  equal  to  the  tonnage  of  the  Britsh  empire. 

"  When  the  Declaration  was  sent  abroad  over  the  land, 
the  means  of  transportation,  communication,  and  travel,  were 
of  the  most  limited  description.  Beyond  the  shores  of  the 
seas  and  the  banks  of  the  streams,  mere  bridle-paths, 
often  following  the  trails  of  the  sons  of  the  forest, 
were  the  avenues  of  travel.  Now  the  avenues  of  trans 
portation  have  multiplied  almost  beyond  comprehension. 
Five  thousand  miles  of  canals,  thirty  thousand  miles  of 
railway,  forty-five  thousand  miles  of  telegraph,  five  million 
tons  of  shipping,  fifteen  hundred  steamers,  which  annually 
transport  forty  millions  of  passengers,  afford  the  amplest 
facilities  for  rapid  communication.  .  .  . 

'*  Then  religious  strifes,  growing  out  of  the  conflicting 
claims  of  rival  sects  for  supremacy  in  some  of  the  colonies, 
and  the  poverty  and  scattered  condition  of  the  people  in 
others,  limited  the  means  of  moral  instruction  :  now  reli 
gion  is  wholly  divorced  from  the  corruptions  of  power ;  all 


ORATION  AT  LAWRENCE.  263 

forms  of  faith  are  protected  by  equal  laws  ;  and  forty  thou 
sand  churches  —  costing  nearly  a  hundred  millions  of 
dollars,  in  which  fifteen  millions  of  people  may  be  seated, 
and  in  which  more  than  thirty  thousand  clergymen  instruct 
the  people  in  the  duties  of  life  —  point  their  spires  toward  the 
skies.  Religious  and  philanthropic  associations  annually 
scatter  among  the  people  millions  of  publications  for  the 
moral  culture  of  the  people.  Humane  institutions,  al 
most  unknown  when  the  nation  commenced  its  independ 
ent  existence,  have  been  founded,  where  the  children  of 
misfortune,  the  blind,  the  deaf,  the  dumb,  the  insane,  and 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  toil,  find  shelter  from  the  storms 
of  life.  .  .  . 

"  When  independence  was  proclaimed,  less  than  forty 
newspapers  spread  the  immortal  words  among  the  people  ; 
and  these  journals  were  small  in  size,  and  of  limited  circu 
lation  :  on  this  eighty-third  anniversary,  nearly  three 
thousand  newspapers  are  printed  in  America,  having  a 
circulation  of  six  millions,  and  annually  scattering  broad 
cast  nearly  six  hundred  millions  of  copies,  —  more  copies 
than  are  printed  by  the  two  most  powerful  nations  of  the 
globe,  France  and  England.  At  the  dawn  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  periodical  literature  was  hardly  known  :  now  two  hun 
dred  periodicals,  devoted  to  literature,  science,  and  art,  to 
religion,  law,  politics,  manufactures,  commerce,  agriculture, 
mechanics,  and  the  moral,  intellectual,  and  material  interests 
of  society,  are  published  ;  and  the  circulation  of  these  peri 
odicals  is  immense,  amounting  to  many  millions  annually. 
These  three  thousand  periodicals  and  journals,  which  the 
prolific  press  of  America  scatters  among  the  people,  give 
to  them  the  ideas,  inventions,  discoveries,  arts,  facts,  and 
events,  at  rates  so  low  as  to  bring  them  within  the  reach 
of  the  toiling  masses. 


264  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

"  At  the  opening  of  the  Revolutionary  contest,  booka 
were  rare  and  dear,  —  beyond  the  reach  of  the  masses  of 
the  people ;  only  a  few  small  libraries  had  been  created : 
now  the  public  libraries,  exclusive  of  those  of  schools 
and  institutions  of  learning,  contain  more  than  six  millions 
of  volumes.  The  rarest  &nd  choicest  works  find  a  place 
in  the  private  libraries  which  the  increasing  wealth,  taste, 
and  refinement  of  the  people  are  creating.  The  American 
press,  hardly  a  power  at  the  opening  of  the  contest  for 
national  existence,  now  annually  publishes  more  than  a 
thousand  new  works,  and  more  than  nine  millions  of  vol 
umes.  The  works  of  the  profoundest  and  the  ripest 
intellects  in  the  Old  World  and  the  New,  in  ancient  and 
modern  times,  are  now,  by  the  ceaseless  activity  of  the 
American  press,  placed  before  the  people  at  prices  so  low, 
that  all  can  hold  communion  with  the  mighty  minds  of  the 
living  and  with  the  dead.  The  great  living  authors  of 
England  and  of  France  are  read  hardly  less  in  America 
than  in  their  native  lands.  Before  the  Revolution,  there 
were  a  few  scholars  of  research  and  learning,  of  genius  and 
taste ;  but  they  had  contributed  little  to  literature,  science, 
or  art.  America  has  achieved  a  position  in  the  republic 
of  letters  which  gives  assurance  of  a  brilliant  future ;  and 
she  has  given  to  the  world  some  of  the  noblest  names  that 
grace  the  literature,  science,  and  art  of  the  age. 

"  These  statistics  of  wealth,  of  production,  of  material 
advancement,  of  churches,  schools,  libraries,  and  journals, 
give  us  some  idea  of  the  vast  resources  and  abounding 
means  now  possessed  by  the  people  of  America  for  moral 
and  intellectual  culture  and  physical  well-being. 

"  This  rapid  advancement  of  the  republic  in  all  the 
elements  of  power,  this  lofty  position  achieved  within  the 
brief  space  of  one  human  life,  this  consummated  result, 


ORATION  AT  LA  WHENCE.  265 

which  places  America  among  the  foremost  powers  of  the 
globe,  make  the  hearts  of  our  countrymen,  wherever  they 
may  be,  on  the  ocean  or  on  the  land,  throb  with  patriotic 
joy  and  pride  ;  and  they  give  this  day  to  memory,  exul 
tation,  and  hope." 

Referring  to  the  subject  ever  uppermost  in  his  mind,  he 


"  But  to  the  thoughtful  patriot  who  loves  his  country, 
who  would  make  that  country  an  example  to  the  nations ; 
to  the  lover  of  human  freedom,  who  would  extend  its  sway 
over  the  globe ;  to  the  Christian  philanthropist,  whose 
heart  ever  throbs  for  the  welfare  of  the  children  of  men,  — 
this  hallowed  anniversary,  so  glorious  in  its  memories  of 
the  past,  its  realities  of  the  present,  and  its  hopes  of  the 
future,  is  not  one  of  unmingled  joy.  Within  the  limits  of 
the  republic,  four  millions  of  mankind  are  bending  to-day 
beneath  the  nameless  woes  of  perpetual  servitude ;  and, 
while  the  self-evident  truths  of  the  great  charter  of  rights 
are  upon  our  lips,  the  humiliating  consciousness  flashes 
upon  our  souls,  that  fleeing  bondmen  are  shrinking  away 
in  the  glens  and  forests  from  the  echoes  of  the  glad  voices 
of  general  rejoicing,  watching  for  the  going-down  of  the 
sun,  so  that  their  weary  eyes  may  gaze  upon  the  north 
star,  whose  steady  light  they  anxiously  hope  will  guide 
their  aching  feet  to  that  land  beyond  the  Great  Lakes  and 
the  St.  Lawrence,  where  the  shackle  falls  and  the  voice 
of  the  master  is  not  heard. 

"  This  4  odious  and  abominable  trade,'  this  '  inhuman 
and  accursed  traffic,'  which  Daniel  Webster  summoned  the 
country  to  4  put  beyond  the  circle  of  human  sympathies 
and  human  regards,'  now  flourishes  in  defiant  mockery  of 
the  laws  of  the  country  and  the  public  opinion  of  the 
Christian  and  civilized  world." 

23 


266  LIFE  OF  HENEY  WILSOtf. 

He  closed  his  eloquent  address  with  these  hopeful 
words :  — 

"Though  deeds  of  injustice,  inhumanity,  lawlessness, 
and  oppression,  darken  our  horizon,  casting  their  saddening 
influences  over  the  festivities  of  this  anniversary,  the  les 
son  of  this  day  is  the  lesson  of  hope,  not  of  despair.  Upon 
America,  our  country,  and,  with  all  her  faults,  the  land  of 
our  affections  and  pride,  are  centred  the  best  hopes  of 
mankind.  To  what  portion  of  the  glohe,  to  what  land 
under  the  whole  heavens,  can  the  friend  of  human  prog 
ress,  of  equal  and  universal  liberty,  this  day  turn  with 
more  of  hope  and  confidence  than  to  this  magnificent 
continental  empire,  this  broad  land  of  wondrous  fertility, 
where  Providence  has  garnered  illimitable  resources  to  be 
developed  for  human  prosperity,  power,  and  happiness ; 
this  democratic  republic,  with  achieved  free  institutions 
based  upon  the  rights  of  human  nature,  with  millions  of 
people  trained  in  self-government,  and  in  full  possession 
of  the  citadel  of  consummated  power,  —  the  ballot-box; 
where  the  loving  heart,  the  enlightened  conscience,  the 
unclouded  reason,  of  man,  can  utter  their  voices  for  humane 
and  equal  laws,  and  for  their  wise  and  impartial  adminis 
tration  ?  l  Our  country,'  said  that  illustrious  supporter  of 
the  rights  of  mankind,  John  Quincy  Adams,  '  began  her 
existence  by  the  proclamation  of  the  universal  emancipa 
tion  of  man  from  the  thraldom  of  man.'  In  support  of 
that  glorious  proclamation,  our  fathers  were  summoned  to 
walk  the  path  of  duty ;  and  they  obeyed  the  call,  though 
it  was  swept  by  British  cannon,  darkened  by  the  storm  of 
battle,  and  sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  falling  comrades. 
We  honor  their  sublime  devotion  ;  we  applaud  their  heroic 
deeds.  Their  bright  example  of  devotion  to  principle,  and 
fidelity  to  duty,  should  incite  us  of  this  age  in  America  to 


THE  JOHN  BROWN  RAID.  267 

accept  joyfully  and  bravely  the  responsibilities  of  our  posi 
tion,  and,  like  them,  be  ever  ready 

« To  take 

Occasion  by  the  hand,  and  make 
The  bounds  of  freedom  wider  yet.'  " 

To  the  raid  of  John  Brown  into  Virginia  in  October 
(1859),  causing  wild  excitement  through  the  South,  and 
terminating  in  the  death  of  the  invader,  Mr.  Wilson  was 
from  principle  opposed.  He  had  often  made  the  declara 
tion,  that  even  Congress  had  no  right  to  interfere  with 
slavery  in  the  slave  States ;  and  in  this  position  he  firmly 
stood.  An  attempt  was  made  in  the  Senate,  Dec.  6,  to 
prove  that  he  was  in  sympathy  with  those  who  would 
resort  to  force  for  the  liberation  of  the  slave,  by  showing 
that  he  was  present  at  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Natick 
on  the  29th  of  November,  in  which  was  passed,  without 
opposition  on  his  part,  the  resolution,  "  That  it  is  the  right 
and  duty  of  the  slaves  to  resist  their  masters."  To  this 
imputation  he  replied  :  — 

"  During  the  canvass  in  New  York,  I  spent  two  weeks 
there,  and  addressed  tens  of  thousands  of  people ;  and  my 
speeches  were  reported  in  full  two  or  three  times.  In 
those  speeches  I  expressed  my  views  in  regard  to  this  raid 
of  John  Brown  at  HarperVFerry  fully  and  explicitly.  I 
returned  to  my  home  on  the  day  preceding  the  election  in 
my  State;  and  I  addressed  a  very  large  meeting  of  the 
citizens  of  my  town  for  two  hours  on  general  political 
topics,  and  fully  on  this  matter  in  regard  to  the  Harper's- 
Ferry  affair.  ...  In  the  town  where  I  live  we  have 
more  than  a  thousand  voters.  We  have  some  ten  or 
twenty  men  who  are  radical  abolitionists.  Some  of  them 
were  present.  They  did  not  interrupt  me  nor  the  meeting. 


268  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

When  the  meeting  had  ended,  they  said  to  their  neigh 
bors  and  friends,  and  some  of  them  came  to  me  and  said, 
that  they  disagreed  with  me  entirely,  and  would  have 
somebody  there  to  put  the  other  side  of  the  question.  A 
short  time  afterwards,  Mr.  Henry  C.  Wright,  a  Garrison 
abolitionist,  who  is  a  professed  disunionist,  a  no-govern 
ment  man,  a  non-resistant,  came  to  speak  in  my  town. 
The  population  of  the  place  went  to  hear  him,  and  crowded 
the  hall.  Most  of  the  active  Democrats  in  the  town  were 
present.  The  postmaster  was  present,  and  sat  close  by 
me.  The  resolutions  were  offered  by  Mr.  Wright ;  and  he 
made  a  non-resistant  speech  in  favor  of  resistance. 
(Laughter.)  He  went  on  to  explain  how  the  thing  could 
be  done.  He  said  he  would  not  shed  a  drop  of  human 
blood  to  free  every  slave  in  the  country. 

"  After  he  closed  his  speech,  the  question  was  put,  and 
perhaps  fifteen  or  twenty  persons  in  that  meeting  of  seven 
or  eight  hundred  voted  for  the  resolution.  All  the  rest, 
feeling  that  Mr.  Wright's  friends  had  paid  for  the  hall,  and 
got  up  the  meeting  for  him  and  for  themselves,  took  no 
part  for  or  against  him.  They  did  not  interrupt  the  meet 
ing  ;  believing  as  they  did,  and  as  we  do  in  our  part  of  the 
country,  in  the  absolute  right  of  free  discussion  of  all 
questions.  When  the  meeting  adjourned,  the  general  ex 
pression  was  that  the  resolution  was  a  very  foolish  one, 
and  for  which  Mr.  Wright  and  his  friends  were  alone  re 
sponsible.  Nine-tenths  of  that  meeting  took  no  part  in  it. 
They  did  not  wish  to  interrupt  the  meeting,  or  interfere 
with  it  in  any  way  whatever,  or  be  responsible  for  it. 
There  were  present  gentlemen  as  sound  on  the  slavery 
question  as  the  senator  from  Mississippi  could  desire.  The 
postmaster  of  that  town  is  as  sound  on  the  slavery  ques 
tion  as  the  senator  from  Mississippi,  and  often  manifests  his 


THE  JOHN  BKOWN  KAID.  269 

zeal  in  defence  of  the  policy  of  the  slave  power ;  but  he 
did  not  say  a  word,  nor  did  those  who  act  with  him,  be 
cause  nobody  wished  to  interfere  with  those  who  had 
invited  the  speaker  there,  and  who  agreed  with  him  in  his 
general  opinions.  Senators  should  remember  that  the 
right  to  hold  meetings,  and  to  utter  opinions  upon  all 
matters  of  public  concern,  is  an  acknowledged  right  in  my 
section  of  the  country.  They  should  remember,  also,  that 
the  people  in  that  section  often  attend  meetings  where 
subjects  are  discussed  in  a  way  they  do  not  sanction  ;  but 
they  do  not  think  it  becomes  gentlemen  to  interrupt  such 
meetings,  or  interfere  with  those  who  differ  from  them. 
Often  do  I  attend  such  meetings,  and  listen  to  what  is  said, 
without  feeling  myself  in  any  way  responsible  for  what  is 
said  or  done  :  so  do  the  people  of  my  State.  I  wish  the 
people  of  other  sections  of  the  country  would  thus  cherish 
the  sacred  right  of  free  discussion." 

So,  in  reply  to  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Iverson,  he  said 
in  the  Senate,  Dec.  8, — 

"  The  sentiment  in  my  State  approaches  unanimity  in 
condemnation  of  the  raid  of  John  Brown.  If  there  be 
any  man  in  Massachusetts,  especially  any  Republican  in 
Massachusetts,  who  upholds  or  justifies  that  act,  he  has 
my  unqualified  opposition  and  condemnation.  But,  sir, 
I  wish  to  deal  frankly  with  senators  on  the  other  side,  and 
to  say  that  the  sentiment  of  my  State  approaches  una 
nimity  in  sympathy  for  the  fate  of  the  leader  of  that  invasion. 
It  springs  mainly  and  chiefly  from  what  happened  after 
that  event,  during  his  imprisonment,  his  trial,  and  his 
execution.  His  words,  his  letters,  his  bearing,  every  thing 
about  him,  extorted  admiration  from  friends  and  foes." 

Such  had  been  Senator  Wilson's  steady,  able,  and  con 
sistent  defence  of  the  rights  of  the  Northern  people  and  if 

23* 


270  LIFE   OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

those  in  bondage,  that  on  the  twelfth  day  of  June,  1860. 
both  branches  of  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  passed 
a  resolution  honorable  alike  to  the  sentiment  of  the  repre 
sentatives  of  the  people  and  to  him  :  — 

"Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  legislature,  acting  as 
the  agents  of  the  people,  be  and  are  hereby  tendered  to  the 
Hon.  HENRY  WILSON  for  his  able,  fearless,  and  always 
prompt  defence  of  the  great  principles  of  human  freedom 
while  acting  as  a  senator  and  a  citizen  of  the  Old  Bay 
State." 

"  Approved  June  16,  1860  : 

"  NATHANIEL  P.  BANKS." 

On  his  amendment  to  the  Naval  Appropriation  Bill  for 
the  purchase  of  three  steam-vessels  for  the  suppression  of 
the  African  slave-trade,  Mr.  Wilson,  true  to  his  noble 
record,  made  on  the  18th  of  June,  1860,  a  strong  speech,  in 
which  he  presents  a  mass  of  startling  facts  in  respect  to  the 
re-opening  of  this  iniquitous  business.  "  The  senator  from 
Virginia  (Mr.  Mason)  asks  how  it  is,"  says  he,  "  that  the 
slave-trade  has  been  revived  in  the  cities  of  the  North.  He 
does  not  understand  why  this  traffic  in  men  should  be  re- 
renewed  at  this  time  by  persons  residing  in  this  country. 
I  think,  sir,  it  is  all  very  plain.  We  have  had  in  this 
country  during  the  past  six  years  an  immense  pressure  for 
the  extension  of  slavery  into  the  Territories,  and  for  the 
supremacy  of  slavery  in  the  councils  of  the  government. 
To  extend  slavery,  to  secure  its  controlling  influence  over 
the  government,  ancient  restrictions  have  been  abrogated, 
and  lawless  violence  and  frauds  have  been  resorted  to  by 
unscrupulous  men  ready  to  sacrifice  every  right  that  stood 
in  the  way  of  their  schemes  of  expansion  and  dominion. 


THE  SLAVE-TEADE.  271 

The  senator  from  Virginia  himself  proclaimed  on  this  floor 
that  the  slaveholding  States  had  the  right  to  the  natural 
expansion  of  slavery  on  this  continent  as  an  element  of 
political  power.  Does  the  senator  suppose  that  these  efforts 
to  expand  human  slavery  over  this  continent  for  the 
avowed  purpose  of  strengthening  the  power  of  slave- 
masters  over  the  National  Government  have  no  influence 
over  men  ever  ready  to  do  any  work  of  inhumanity  or 
crime  to  fill  their  coffers  with  gold  ? 

"  Sir,  these  efforts  to  extend  human  slavery  in  America, 
these  attempts  to  increase  the  power  of  slavery  in  the 
councils  of  the  nation,  these  discussion  sin  these  halls  and 
in  the  public  journals,  these  deeds  of  fraud  and  violence, 
have  had  their  demoralizing  effects  upon  the  country. 
When  the  senator  from  Virginia  finds  that  men  engaged 
in  this  inhuman  traffic  cannot  be  convicted,  that  juries 
fail,  that  judges  pervert  the  laws,  that  public  journals  and 
public  men  demand  the  abrogation  of  treaty  stipulations 
and  the  modification  or  repeal  of  all  laws  branding  the 
slave-trade  as  piracy,  why  should  he  be  surprised  that  in 
Northern  commercial  cities,  in  the  great  city  of  New  York, 
there  should  be  found  men  to  invest  capital  to  fit  out  ships, 
to  send  vessels  to  the  coast  of  Africa,  to  engage  in  a  traffic, 
which,  if  successful,  fills  their  purses  with  coveted  gold  ? 
Why  should  not  men  be  found  in  that  great  commercial 
city  as  ready  to  violate  law,  the  rights  of  human  nature, 
and  feelings  of  humanity,  to  win  gold,  as  to  aid  in  the 
work  of  slavery  expansion  and  dominion  in  America  for 
the  poor  boon  of  official  patronage?  Surely  the  ex 
perienced  senator  from  Virginia  cannot  be  surprised  at  the 
readiness  of  men  to  do  mean  and  wicked  deeds  for  slavery. 
The  senator  has  often  seen  how  ready  men  are,  even  in 
these  chambers,  to  do  whatever  slavery  requires  of  them. 


272  LIFE  OF  HENRY   WILSON. 

The  senator,  the  other  day,  reported  in  favor  of  returning 
to  my  colleague  a  petition  presented  by  him  of  colored 
citizens  of  Massachusetts.  In  this  the  senator  had  the 
ready  support  of  the  senator  from  Indiana  (Mr.  Fitch). 
When  the  honorable  senator  from  Virginia  finds  the 
senator  from  Indiana  not  only  ready  to  engage  in  an  act 
like  that,  —  an  act  which  violates  the  constitutional  rights 
of  men  and  the  rights  of  a  senator  of  a  sovereign  State,  — 
but  willing  to  make  an  insulting  motion,  accompanied  by 
impertinent  remarks  toward  the  senator  who,  in  the  dis 
charge  of  public  duty,  presented  the  petition,  why  should 
he  not  suppose  that  other  men  can  be  found  willing  to  do 
any  work  in  the  interests  of  slavery  ?  When  the  senator 
from  Virginia  sees  the  pliancy  and  alacrity  of  the  senator 
from  Indiana  in  this  work  of  suppressing  the  petitions  of 
the  colored  citizens  of  a  sovereign  Commonwealth,  why 
should  he  not  suppose  that  men  may  be  found  in  other 
Northern  States  ready  to  engage  in  the  slave-trade  ? 

"  It  cannot  be  matter  of  surprise  to  senators  that  men 
in  our  great  commercial  cities,  especially  New  York,  should 
engage  with  renewed  zeal  in  the  slave-trade.  Men  ever 
ready  to  clutch  at  every  opportunity  to  fill  their  purses 
with  gold,  no  matter  how  it  is  to  be  won,  could  not 
fail  to  be  influenced  to  embark  in  the  unlawful  and  inhu 
man  slave-trade  by  the  change  which  has  been  going  on 
in  the  public  mind  in  regard  to  this  traffic  in  men.  We 
cannot  disguise  the  fact,  that  a  great  change  of  sentiment 
has  been  going  on  in  this  country  with  regard  to  the  slave- 
trade." 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE     NOMINATION     OF     MR.      LINCOLN. THE     PARAMOUNT 

QUESTION     BETWEEN      THE      PARTIES. HOW     SHOULD 

WORKING-MEN  VOTE  ? HIS    COURSE    IN   THE   EVENT 

OF    DISUNION. HIS    RELATIONS  TO  MR.  DAVIS. 

THE    CRITTENDEN    COMPROMISE. LETTERS. 

Mr.  Lincoln  nominated.  —  Mr.  Wilson's  Energy  in  his  Support.  —  Speech  at 
Myrick's.  —  East  Boston.  —  Free  and  Slave  Labor.  —  Letter  of  Mr.  Packard.  — 
Secession  of  the  Southern  States.  —  Mr.  Wilson  Fearless.  —  Speech  in  the 
Senate.  —  Labors  in  the  Military  Committee  with  Mr.  Davis.  —  He  foresees 
a  tremendous  Contest.  —  His  Position.  —  Great  Speech  on  Mr.  Crittenden's 
Compromise.  —  Letters  from  Mr.  Whittier,  Mrs.  L.  M.  Child,  Gerrit  Smith, 
Amasa  Walker.  —  Vote  of  Thanks. 

A'  BRAHAM  LINCOLN  was  nominated  for  the  presi- 
-LJL.  dency  by  the  Republicans  in  convention  at  Chicago 
in  the  month  of  May,  1860  ;  and  John  C.  Breckinridge  in 
April  following,  at  Charleston,  S.C.,  by  the  proslavery 
Democrats.  The  other  candidates  were  John  Bell  and 
Stephen  A.  Douglas.  The  main  question  between  the  two 
leading  parties  was  freedom,  or  slavery,  in  the  immense 
Territories  of  the  Union  ;  or,  in  other  words,  shall  free,  or 
servile,  labor  have  the  ascendency  in  this  country  ?  Long 
and  carefully,  both  in  and  out  of  Congress,  had  Mr.  Wilson 
studied  this  question  under  every  form  and  bearing  ;  long 
had  he  contemplated  the  tremendous  interests  involved 
in  the  issue  of  the  question  ;  and  he  therefore  threw  him- 

273 


274  LIEE  OF  HENKY  WILSON. 

self  into  the  contest  with  unfaltering  energy,  addressing 
vast  and  enthusiastic  audiences  in  many  States  with  elo 
quent  and  effective  words  of  warning,  counsel,  and  en 
couragement.  In  an  address  at  Myrick's  Junction,  Mass., 
on  the  18th  of  September,  in  reference  to  the  paramount 
question  of  the  parties,  he  said,  — 

"  Issues  growing  out  of  the  existence  of  human  slavery 
in  America  are  now  the  paramount  issues  before  the  nation. 
Shall  slavery  continue  to  expand  ?  shall  it  continue  to  guide 
the  counsels  of  the  republic?  or  shall  its  expansion  be 
arrested,  its  power  broken,  and  it  forced  to  retire  under 
the  cover  of  the  local  laws  under  which  it  exists  ?  These 
issues  loom  up  before  the  nation,  dwarfing  all  other  issues, 
and  subordinating  all  other  questions.  Public  men  and 
political  organizations  are  forced  to  accept  the  transcendent 
issues  growing  out  of  the  existence  of  slavery  in  America. 

"  The  American  Democracy,  which  for  twenty-five  years 
has  borne  the  banners  of  slavery,  won  its  victories,  and 
shared  in  its  crimes  against  humanity,  though  broken  into 
fragments,  struggles  on,  faithful  still  to  the  interests  of  sla 
very.  Breckinridge  and  Lane  accept  the  creed  of  slavery 
expansion,  slavery  protection,  and  slavery  domination ; 
Douglas  '  don't  care  whether  slavery  is  voted  up  or  voted 
down  ; '  and  Johnson,  commended  by  the  Massachusetts 
Democracy  at  Springfield  for  his  4  honest  and  fearless  prom 
ulgation  of  Democratic  truth,'  proclaims  that  it  4  is  best 
that  capital  should  own  labor.'  The  American  Democracy, 
demoralized  by  slavery,  has  ceased  to  speak  of  the  rights 
of  man  :  it  now  speaks  only  of  the  rights  of  property  in 
man.  The  Republican  party,  brought  into  existence  by 
the  aggressions  of  slavery  upon  freedom,  cherishing  the 
faith  of  the  founders  of  the  republic,  and  believing  with 
their  chosen  leader,  Abraham  Lincoln,  that  '  he  who  would 


THE  PARAMOUNT    QUESTION.  275 

be  no  slave  must  consent  to  have  no  slave,'  pledges  itself, 
all  it  is,  all  it  hopes  to  be,  to  arrest  the  extension  of  slavery, 
banish  it  from  the  Territories,  dethrone  its  power  in  the 
National  Government,  and  force  it  back  under  the  cover  of 
State  sovereignty." 

After  giving  the  proslavery  record  of  Mr.  Bell,  he  closed 
by  these  strong  words  :  — 

u  Men  of  old  Puritan  and  Revolutionary  Massachusetts, 
upon  whose  pathway  the  star  of  duty  casts  its  radiant  and 
steady  light,  —  you  who  believe  with  Benjamin  Franklin, 
that  '  slavery  is  an  atrocious  debasement  of  human  nature  ; ' 
with  John  Adams,  that  '  consenting  to  slavery  is  a  sac 
rilegious  breach  of  trust ; '  with  John  Quincy  Adams, 
that  '  slavery  taints  the  very  sources  of  moral  principle  ; ' 
with  Daniel.  Webster,  that  'slavery  is  a  continual  and 
permanent  violation  of  human  rights,'  '  opposed  to  the 
whole  spirit  of  the  gospel  and  to  the  teachings  of  Jesus 
Christ,'  —  reject,  I  pray  you,  reject  with  loathing,  the  false 
and  guilty  doctrine,  that,  in  this  crisis  of  the  republic,  '  it 
is  the  part  of  patriotism  and  duty  to  recognize  no  political 
principle ; '  turn  from  a  candidate  whose  record  is  blurred, 
blotted,  and  stained  with  words  and  deeds  for  human  sla 
very  ;  spurn  with  scorn  all  affiliation  with  men  who  in 
the  South  are  vying  with  the  slave-code  Democracy  in 
fealty  to  the  slave  propagandists,  —  who  in  the  North  are 
scoffing  and  jeering  at  the  sacred  cause  of  liberty,  organ 
izing  Democratic-aid  societies,  peddling  and  dickering  with 
Democratic  factions,  to  defeat  men  whose  only  offence  is 
their  unswerving  fidelity  to  the  cause  of  human  nature 
now  in  peril  in  America,  and  '  consecrating,'  in  the  words 
of  Whittier, 

*  their  baseness  to  the  cause 
Of  Constitution,  Union,  and  the  Laws.' 


276  LIFE  OF  HENRY   WILSON. 

*'  Rally,  men  of  Massachusetts,  to  the  standard  of  a  party 
that  proclaims  its  principles  and  its  policy,  —  a  party  that 
would  engrave  in  letters  of  living  light  upon  the  arches  of 
the  skies,  so  that  the  nations  might  read  it,  its  undying  hos 
tility  to  the  domination  and  extension  of  slavery  in  Ameri 
ca.  Rally  to  the  support  of  a  candidate  for  the  chief 
mag  stracy  of  the  republic  who  penned  these  noble  words: 
*  This  is  a  world  of  compensations;  and  he  who  would  be 
no  slave  must  consent  to  have  no  slave.  Those  who  deny 
freedom  to  others  deserve  it  not  for  themselves ;  and,  un 
der  a  just  God,  cannot  long  retain  it.' ' 

On  the  question,  "  How  ought  working-men  to  vote  ?  " 
Mr.  Wilson  said,  contrasting  free  with  servile  labor,  in  a 
speech  of  signal  force  delivered  at  East  Boston  on  the  24th 
of  October, — 

"  Self-interest,  self-respect,  the  love  he  bears  his  wife, 
and  the  hopes  centred  in  those  who  inherit  his  blood  and 
bear  his  name,  all  urge,  press,  command,  the  poor  man,  the 
mechanic,  the  laboring-man,  to  rush  to  the  ballot-box  on 
the  6th  of  November,  and  vote  to  take  the  government  of 
his  country  from  the  unhallowed  grasp  of  men,  who,  by 
word  and  deed,  have  proved  themselves  the  mortal  enemies 
of  free  labor  and  free-laboring  men,  and  to  place  that  gov 
ernment  in  the  hands  of  statesmen  who  will  maintain  the 
rights,  interests,  and  dignity  of  free  labor. 

"  Glancing  over  this  assemblage  of  the  freemen  of  East 
Boston,  I  see  before  me  the  manly  forms  of  toiling  men, 
who,  through  weary  days  and  sleepless  nights  of  personal 
toil,  have  won  for  themselves  positions  of  independence,  or 
who  now,  by  the  scanty  wages  of  manual  labor,  support 
themselves  and  the  dear  and  loved  ones  of  their  household. 
And  I  say  to  you,  men  of  Massachusetts,  slavery  is  the 
unappeasable  enemy  of  the  free  laboring- men  of  America, 


HOW  SHOULD   WOBKING-MEN  VOTE?  277 

of  the  North  and  of  the  South.  Ay,  I  repeat,  sla 
very  is  the  unappeasable  enemy  of  the  free  laboring-men 
of  America,  of  the  North  and  of  the  South.  The  party 
that  upholds  slavery  in  America,  that  would  extend  its 
boundaries,  increase  its  influence  and  its  power,  is  the  mor 
tal  enemy  of  the  free  white  laboring-men  of  the  United 
States.  I  declare  to  you,  men  of  Massachusetts,  and,  if  I 
could  be  heard,  I  would  proclaim  it  in  the  ear  of  every 
laboring-man  in  America,  the  slavery  of  the  black  man 
has  degraded  labor  and  the  white  laboring-man  of  the 
South,  and  dishonored  the  white  laboring  -  man  of  the 
North.  Some  writer  (I  think  it  was  Carlyle)  has  said  that 
the  Indian  away  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Winnipeg  cannot 
strike  his  dusky  mate  but  the  world  feels  the  blow.  Put 
the  brand  of  degradation  upon  the  brow  of  one  working- 
man,  and  the  toiling  millions  of  the  globe  share  in  that 
degradation.  Slavery  makes  labor  dishonorable,  puts  the 
brand  of  degradation  upon  the  brow  of  manual  labor,  fre'e 
as  well  as  slave,  blights  the  homes  of  the  free  laboring 
white  men  of  the  South,  and  casts  its  baleful  shadows  over 
the  homes,  the  fields,  and  the  workshops  of  the  laboring- 
men  of  the  North. 

"  In  1620  —  two  hundred  and  forty  years  ago  —  freedom 
and  slavery  came  to  the  shores  of  America.  Freedom 
took  the  rugged  soil  and  still  more  rugged  clime  of  the 
North  :  slavery  took  the  genial  clime  and  sunny  lands  of 
the  South.  Freedom,  starting  from  Plymouth,  has  ad 
vanced  with  steady  step  westward,  crossed  the  Rocky 
Mountains  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  seas,  founding  com 
monwealths  which  recognize  the  eternal  laws  of  man's 

O 

being :    slavery,  starting   from  Jamestown,  has  advanced 
westward  and  southward  into  the  depths  of  the  continent, 

24 


278  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

founding  States  of  privilege  and  caste.  The  results  of  these 
two  antagonistic  systems  are  plain  to  the  comprehension  of 
all  men. 

"  Here,  in  these  free  commonwealths,  are  twenty  millions 
of  freemen,  with  free  speech,  free  press,  free  schools,  free 
churches,  and  free  institutions.  Here  all  questions  that 
concern  humanity  are  examined  and  discussed  by  the  un 
fettered  press  and  the  free  thoughts  and  words  of  men. 
Here  4  labor,'  in  the  words  of  Daniel  Webster,  '  looks  up 
and  is  proud  in  the  midst  of  its  toil.'  Here  the  laboring- 
man,  who  daily  goes  forth  with  a  brave  heart  to  toil  for  his 
loved  ones,  wins  not  only  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  face, 
but  the  applauding  voice  of  men  who  honor  labor,  who 
believe  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire.  Here  the  toil 
of  the  working-man  is  lightened  by  ennobling  motives,  by 
aspirations  which  expand  the  mind  and  elevate  the  soul. 
The  toil  which  wearies  his  arm  is  to  make  glad  the  home 
of  wife  and  children ;  to  smooth  adown  the  declivity  of 
life  the  steps  of  parents  to  whom  he  owes  his  being ;  to  lift 
the  burdens  of  life  from  brother,  sister,  or  friend  ;  or  to  win 
for  him  competence,  independence,  positions  of  power,  the 
lofty  and  glittering  prizes  of  ambition.  Here  the  laboring- 
men  in  all  the  fields  of  manly  toil  are  working  out  a  con 
dition  of  society  for  the  toiling  masses  more  elevated  than 
can  be  found  in  any  other  portion  of  the  globe.  Here 
agriculture,  commerce,  manufactures,  the  mechanic  arts, 
churches,  schools,  libraries,  the  institutions  of  a  refining 
civilization,  flourish  in  vigor  and  strength.  Such  are  the 
magnificent  results  of  freedom  in  the  North. 

to 

"  The  results  of  slavery  in  the  South  glare  upon  us  from 
every  rood  of  the  land  stained  by  its  existence.  The 
fruits  of  slavery  are  bitter  to  the  taste,  and  sickening  to  the 


HOW   SHOULD   WOKKING-MEN  VOTE?  279 

soul  of  man.  There  are  auction-blocks,  where  man  made 
in  the  image  of  God  is  sold  like  the  beasts  that  perish; 
there  are  chains  and  fetters  for  human  limbs,  whips  to 
scourge  and  torture  the  body,  and  laws  to  debase  and  bru 
talize  the  mind  and  soul  of  man.  There  labor  is  dishon 
ored,  laborers  degraded,  despised.  4  To  work,'  said  Wil 
liam  Ellery  Channing,  '  in  sight  of  the  whip,  under  menace 
of  blows,  is  to  be  exposed  to  perpetual  insult  and  degrading 
influences.  Every  motion  of  the  limbs  which  such  a  men 
ace  urges  is  a  wound  to  the  soul.'  To  work  beside  the 
bondmen  urged  on  to  toil  by  the  menace  of  blows  de 
grades  the  poor  white  laborer  to  the  abject  condition  of 
the  slave.  To  continually  eat  the  bread  of  enforced  and 
unrequited  toil,  to  look  upon  labor  extorted  by  the  menace 
of  the  lash,  upon  the  laborer  thus  degraded,  excites  in  the 
bosom  of  the  slave-master  that  scorn  for  manual  labor, 
and  that  contempt  for  laboring-men,  now  so  manifest  in 
the  slave  States  of  republican  America. 

The  deterioration,  exhaustion,  and  desolation  of  the  soil 
of  the  South,  under  the  culture  of  unskilled,  untutored, 
unrewarded  slave-labor,  stands  confessed  by  even  the 
champions  of  that  cleaving  curse.  Thousands  of  square 
miles,  millions  of  acres  of  the  best  soil  of  the  Western 
world,  have  been  blighted,  blasted,  desolated,  by  the  pollut 
ing  footsteps  of  the  bondman.  The  champions  of  slavery, 
men  who  would  eternize  it,  extend  its  boundaries  and  its 
dominion  over  the  National  Government,  have  borne  testi 
mony  to  the  desolating  effects  of  the  Southern  system  of 
agriculture,  which  means  the  Southern  slave-labor  system, 
upon  the  most  prolific  soil  of  the  continent.  .  .  . 

"  Breckinridge,"  he  said,  "  bears  aloft  the  banner  of  sla 
very  expansion,  slavery  protection,  and  slavery  domina 
tion  ;  and  around  that  black  flag  rallies  the  Democratic 


280  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

masses  of  the  South,  and  the  men  of  the  North  who  believe 
with  Mr.  Buchanan  that  4  the  master  has  the  right  to  take 
his  slaves  into  the  Territories  as  property,  and  have  it  pro 
tected  there  under  the  Federal  Constitution  ;  '  that  '  nei 
ther  Congress  nor  the  Territorial  legislature,  nor  any 
human  power,  has  any  authority  to  annul  or  impair  that 
vested  right.'  Benjamin  F.  Hallett  tells  the  assembled 
Breckinridge  Democracy  of  Massachusetts  that  there  can 
never  be  a  successful  Democratic  party  in  the  free  States  : 
so  he  goes  with  the  slave-code  Democracy  of  the  South. 
There  can  never  be  a  successful  Democratic  party  in  the 
North  !  What  an  admission  is  this  !  There  can  never  be 
a  successful  Democratic  party  in  the  land  of  free  speech,  free 
press,  free  schools,  free  labor,  and  free  educated  working- 
men  trained  in  self-government  I  Successful  Democracy 
buds  and  blooms  only  in  the  land  of  bondage,  where  the 
right  to  think,  to  discuss,  to  act,  is  not  recognized ;  where 
labor  is  dishonored,  and  laboring-men  despised  I  Surely 
the  working-men  of  the  North  can  not,  will  not,  sustain  by 
their  suffrages  that  false,  foul,  profane  Democracy  which 
draws  its  life,  its  soul,  from  slavery. 

"  Douglas  '  don't  care  whether  slavery  is  voted  down  or 
voted  up.'  To  him  it  is  a  matter  of  supreme  indiffer 
ence  whether  a  million  and  a  half  of  the  square  miles  of 
America  shall  be  gladdened  by  the  footsteps  and  beautified 
by  the  hands  of  freemen,  who  acknowledge  no  man  master  ; 
or  whether  they  shall  be  seared,  blasted,  desolated,  by 

The  old  and  chartered  lie, 

The  feudal  curse,  whose  whips  and  yokes. 

Insult  humanity.' 

"  The  laboring-men  of  the  North,  ay,  and  of  the  South 
too,  should  never  forget  nor  forgive  that  heartless  decla* 


HOW  SHOULD  WORKING-MEN  VOTE?  281 

ration.  The  peerless  Washington  cared  whether  slavery 
was  voted  down  or  voted  up  in  the  Territories  ;  for  he 
4  trusted  we  should  have  a  confederacy  of  free  States,'  and 
he  deemed  the  ordinance  of  1787  '  a  wise  measure.'  The 
working-man  who  votes  the  Douglas  and  Johnson  ticket 
votes  for  a  president  who  '  don't  care  whether  slavery  is 
voted  down  or  voted  up,'  and  for  a  vice-president  who 
4  believes  capital  should  own  labor.'  Can  a  working-man, 
who  eats  his  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his  face,  give  such  a 
vote  ?  Such  a  vote  would  be  a  betrayal  of  the  cause  of 
the  toiling  masses  of  America,  an.  act  of  self-humiliation 
which  should  bring  the  blush  of  conscious  shame  to  the 
cheek. 

"  The  Republican  party,  brought  into  being  by  the  neces 
sities  of  the  country  and  the  needs  of  the  age,  rejects  the 
wicked  dogma,  that  slaves,  the  creatures  of  local  law,  are 
recognized  by  the  Constitution  as  property,  that  the  Con 
stitution  of  republican  America  carries  slavery  wherever 
it  goes,  and  that  the  national  flag  protects  slavery  wherever 
it  waves.  The  Republican  party  4  cares  whether  slavery 
is  voted  down  or  voted  up '  in  the  Territories,  rejects  with 
horror  the  idea  that '  capital  should  own  labor,'  disowns  the 
craven  declaration  that  4  it  is  the  part  of  patriotism  and  of 
duty  to  recognize  no  principle,'  and  bravely  and  hopefully 
accepts  the  duties  now  imposed  upon  the  people  of  the 
United  States  by  the  providence  of  Almighty  God.  The 
Republican  party  proclaims  its  living  faith  in  the  self-evi 
dent  truths  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  now  scoffed 
at  and  jeered  at  by  the  leaders  of  the  slave  Democracy  as 
4  rhetorical  flourishes,'  4  glittering  generalities,' 4  self-evident 
lies,'  4  farragoes  of  nonsense,'  pronounced  by  Breckinridge 
*  abstractions,'  which,  if  carried  into  practice,  would  4  lead 
our  country  rapidly  to  destruction,'  and  declared  by  Doug- 

24* 


282  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

las  to  mean  only  that  '  British  subjects  on  this  continent 
were  equal  to  British  subjects  born  and  residing  in  Great 
Britain.' 

"  The  Republican  party  believes  with  its  chosen  leader, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  that  *  these  expressions  '  of  apostate 
Democratic  politicians,  '  differing  in  form,  are  identical  in 
object  and  effect,  —  the  supplanting  of  the  principles  of  free 
government,  and  restoring  those  of  classification,  caste,  and 
legitimacy  ;  '  that  '  they  would  delight  a  convocation  of 
crowned  heads  plotting  against  the  people ; '  that  '  they 
are  the  vanguard,  the  sappers  and  miners,  of  returning 
despotism.'  The  Republican  party  believes  too,  with  its 
noble  candidate,  that  the  '  abstract  truth '  of  the  Declara 
tion  is  '  applicable  to  all  men  and  all  times  ; '  that  4  to-day, 
and  in  all  coming  days,  it  shall  be  a  rebuke  and  a  stum 
bling-block  to  the  harbingers  of  re-appearing  tyranny  and 
oppression.'  Accepting  as  its  living  faith  the  creed  of  the 
equality  of  mankind,  the  Republican  party  recognizes  the 
poor,  the  humble,  the  sons  of  toil,  whose  hands  are  hard 
ened*  by  honest  labor,  whose  limbs  are  chilled  by  the  blasts 
of  winter,  whose  cheeks  are  scorched  by  the  suns  of  sum 
mer,  as  the  equals,  before  the  law,  of  the  most  favored  of 
the  sons  of  men. 

"  Believing  with  the  republican  fathers  of  the  North 
and  of  the  South,  with  Washington  and  Franklin,  Adams 
and  Jefferson,  Henry  and  Jay,  Morris  and  Mason,  Madi 
son  and  Hamilton,  King  and  Munroe,  Pinckney  and  Mar 
tin,  and  their  illustrious  associates,  that  slavery  is  '  a  sin  of 
crimson  dye,'  '  an  atrocious  debasement  of  human  nature,' 
4  a  dreadful  calamity,'  which  '  lessens  the  sense  of  the  equal 
rights  of  mankind,  and  habituates  us  to  tyranny  and 
oppression  ;  '  believing  with  Henry  Clay,  that  '  slavery  is  a 
wrong,  a  grievous  wrong  no  contingency  can  make  right,' 


HOW  SHOULD   WORKING-MEN  VOTE?  283 

—  the  Republican  party  is  opposed  to  slavery  everywhere. 
Recognizing  the  rights  of  the  States,  it  does  not  claim 
power  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  States  by  Congressional 
legislation  :  but  it  claims  the  power  to  exclude  slavery 
from  the  Territories  ;  and,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  it  will 
use  every  legal  power  and  make  every  honorable  effort 
to  expel  slavery  from  every  rood  of  the  territory  of  the 
republic. 

"  Working-men  of  Massachusetts,  you  who  eat  your 
bread  in  the  sweat  of  the  face,  would  you  make  the  self- 
evident  truths  of  the  charter  of  independence  again  the 
active  faith  of  America  ;  would,  you  weaken  the  influences 
of  slavery  and  the  power  of  the  slave-masters  over  the 
National  Government ;  would  you  expel  slavery  and  its 
degrading  influences  from  the  Territories  ;  would  you  bring 
Kansas  as  a  free  commonwealth  into  the  Union  ;  would  you 
suppress  the  reviving  African  slave-trade,  now  dishonoring 
the  nation ;  would  you  erase  from  the  statutes  of  New  Mex 
ico  the  inhuman  slave-code,  and  the  more  infamous  code 
authorizing  employers  to  degrade  white  laboring-men  with 
blows,  while  it  denies  all  means  of  protection  by  closing 
the  courts  against  their  appeals  for  redress  ;  would  you  set 
apart  the  public  domain  for  homesteads  for  the  landless  ; 
would  you  construct  a  railroad  across  the  central  regions 
of  the  continent  to  the  Pacific  ;  would  you  adjust  the  reve 
nue-laws  so  as  to  incidentally  favor  American  labor  ;  would 
you  win  back  our  lost  influence  with  the  nations  south  of 
us  on  this  continent,  and  thus  increase  and  develop  our 
manufacturing  and  commercial  interests  ;  would  you  reform 
existing  abuses,  strengthen  the  ties  of  interest  and  affec 
tion  which  bind  these  sister  States  together,  and  put  the 
republic  in  the  van  of  advancing  nations,  —  then  commit, 
fully  and  unreservedly  commit,  yourselves  to  the  cause  of 


284  LITE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

republicanism,  to  the  support  of  the  Republican  party  and 
its  tried  and  trusted  candidates.  Born  in  the  ranks  of  the 
toiling  masses,  reared  in  the  bosom  of  the  people,  trained 
in  the  hard  school  of  manual  labor,  Abraham  Lincoln 
and  Hannibal  Hamlin  are  true  to  the  rights,  the  inter 
ests,  and  the  dignity  of  the  working-men  of  the  republic ; 
worthy  to  lead  their  advancing  hosts  to  victory  for  the 
vindication  of  rights  as  old  as  creation,  and  as  wide  as 
humanity." 

Mr.  Schuyler  Colfax  and  many  others  wrote  to  the 
author,  thanking  him  for  this  speech  ;  and  the  general 
tenor  of  the  letters  may  be  seen  from  this  :  — 

BIDDEFORD,  ME.,  Nov.  19,  1860. 

DEAR  SIR,  —  You  have  made  but  very  few  political 
speeches  during  your  life  that  I  have  not  read.  No  one 
appreciates  more  than  I  do  the  herculean  labors  that  you 
and  your  noble  colleague  and  associates  have  made  in 
enlightening  the  national  mind  and  heart  upon  the  aggres 
sions  of  the  slave-power.  What  a  glorious  triumph  you 
have  achieved  !  What  a  revolution  has  been  effected,  and 
how  peacefully  !  I  have  many  times  expressed  to  my 
family  and  friends  the  thought  so  eloquently  enforced  by 
our  mutual  friend,  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  in  his  recent 
sermon  on  the  times  (which  I  think  is  the  greatest  speech 
he  has  ever  made),  —  that  hereafter  the  6th  of  November, 
1860,  will  be  ranked  by  the  historian  as  an  era  of  equal 
importance  with  the  22d  of  December,  1620,  and  the  4th 
of  July,  1776. 

I  subscribe  myself,  with  high  respect  and  regard, 
Your  obedient  servant, 

CHARLES  PACKARD. 


HIS   COUESE  IN  THE  EVENT   OF   DISUNION.       285 

On  the  triumph  of  the  Republicans  in  Mr.  Lincoln's 
election  in  November,  the  South,  led  on  by  Messrs. 
Mason,  Hammond,  Davis,  Floyd,  and  other  kindred  spirits, 
who  foresaw  that  freedom,  so  persistently  resisted,  was 
now  coming  into  the  ascendant,  inconsiderately  passed, 
State  after  State,  the  ordinance  of  seccession,  and  gradually 
withdrew  its  representatives  from  Congress. 

Mr.  Wilson  clearly  saw  the  magnitude  of  the  proceed 
ing  and  the  tremendous  stake  at  issue :  he  knew  the 
strength  of  the  North  in  numbers,  wealth,  and  principle  ; 
he  knew  the  weakness  of  the  South  ;  and  hence  he  had  no 
fear  for  the  ultimate  result :  but  from  the  unity  of  senti 
ment,  from  the  animus  of  the  South,  he  openly  avowed  to 
his  associates  that  the  struggle  would  be  desperate  and 
terrible. 

With  calm  and  manly  earnestness  he  performed  his 
senatorial  duties,"  ever  protesting  that  his  party  had  no 
design  to  interfere  at  all  with  the  domestic  institutions  of 
the  States,  and  that,  if  they  fell,  it  would  be  in  conse 
quence  of  their  impetuous  action,  and  upon  their  own 
responsibility. 

He  had  already  fearlessly  expressed  his  mind  in  a  speech 
in  the  Senate  on  the  25th  of  January  preceding,  in  which 
he  refers  to  the  following  remark  of  Mr.  Clingman  of 
North  Carolina:  "As  from  this  Capitol  so  much  has  gone 
forth  to  inflame  the  public  mind,  if  our  countrymen  are 
to  be  involved  in  a  bloody  struggle,  I  trust  in  God  that 
the  first-fruits  of  the  collision  may  be  reaped  here."  He 
said, — 

"  This  language,  Mr.  President,  admits  of  but  one  in 
terpretation.  Gentlemen  from  the  South  who  are  in  favor 
of  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  do  not  intend,  in  so  doing,  to 
secede  from  this  Capitol,  nor  surrender  it  to  those  who 


286  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

may  remain  within  the  Union.  Having  declared,  that,  if 
lives  are  to  be  sacrificed,  it  will  be  poetically  just  that  they 
should  be  sacrificed  here  on  this  floor  ;  and  that,  as  so 
much  has  gone  forth  from  this  Capitol  to  inflame  the  public 
uiind,  it  is  but  proper  that  the  first-fruits  of  the  struggle 
should  be  reaped  here,  the  senator  gives  us,  therefore, 
distinctly  to  understand  that  there  may  be  a  physical 
collision,  '  a  bloody  struggle ; '  that  the  scene  of  this  con 
flict  is  to  be  the  legislative  halls  of  this  Capitol.  To 
simply  say,  in  reply  to  this  threat,  that  Northern  senators 
cannot  thus  be  intimidated,  is  too  tame  and  commonplace 
to  meet  the  exigency.  Therefore  I  take  it  upon  myself 
to  inform  the  senator  from  North  Carolina  that  the  people 
of  the  free  States  have  sent  their  representatives  here,  not 
to  fight,  but  to  legislate  ;  not  to  mingle  in  personal  combats, 
but  to  deliberate  for  the  good  of  the  whole  country  ;  not 
to  shed  the  blood  of  their  fellow-members,  but  to  maintain 
the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution,  and  uphold  the  Union  : 
and  this  they  will  endeavor  to  do  here,  in  the  legislative 
halls  of  the  Capitol,  at  all  events  and  at  every  hazard.  In 
the  performance  of  their  duties  they  will  not  invade  the 
rights  of  others,  nor  permit  any  infringement  of  their  own. 
They  will  invite  no  collision  ;  they  will  commence  no 
attack  :  but  they  will  discharge  all  their  obligations  to  their 
constituents,  and  maintain  the  government  and  institutions 
of  their  country  in  the  face  of  all  conceivable  consequences. 
Whoever  thinks  otherwise  has  not  studied  either  the 
history  of  the  people  of  the  free  States,  or  the  character  of 
the  men  dwelling  in  that  section  of  the  Union,  or  the  phi 
losophy  of  the  exigency  which  the  senator  from  North 
Carolina  seems  to  invoke.  The  freemen  of  the  North  have 
not  been  accustomed  to  vaunt  their  courage  in  words  :  they 
have  preferred  to  illustrate  it  by  deeds.  They  are  not 


HIS  COURSE  IN  THE  EVENT  OF  DISUNION.        287 

fighting-men  by  profession,  nor  accustomed  to  street  broils, 
nor  contests  on  the  '  field  of  honor '  falsely  so  called,  nor 
are  they  habitual  wearers  of  deadly  weapons.  Therefore 
it  is,  that  when  driven  into  bloody  collisions,  and  especially 
on  sudden  emergencies,  it  is  as  true  in  fact  as  it  is  sound  in 
philosophy,  that  they  are  more  desperate  and  determined, 
and  more  reckless  of  consequences  to  themselves  and  to 
their  antagonists,  than  are  those  who  are  more  accustomed 
to  contemplate  such  collisions.  The  tightest  band,  when 
once  broken,  recoils  with  the  wildest  power.  So  much  for 
the  people  of  the  free  States.  As  to  their  representatives 
in  this  Capitol,  I  will  say,  that  if,  while  in  the  discharge  of 
their  duties  here,  they  are  assaulted  with  deadly  intent,  I 
give  the  senator  from  North  Carolina  due  notice  here 
to-day,  that  those  assaults  will  be  repelled  and  retaliated 
by  sons  who  will  not  dishonor  fathers  that  fought  at 
Bunker  Hill  and  conquered  at  Saratoga,  that  trampled  the 
soil  of  Chippewa  and  Lundy's  Lane  to  a  bloody  mire,  and 
vindicated  sailors'  rights  and  national  honor  on  the  high 
seas  in  the  second  war  of  independence.  Reluctant  to 
enter  into  such  a  contest,  yet,  once  in,  they  will  be  quite  as 
reluctant  to  leave  it.  Though  they  may  not  be  the  first  to 
go  into  the  struggle,  they  will  be  the  last  to  abandon  it" in 
dishonor.  Though  they  will  not  provoke  nor  commence 
the  conflict,  they  will  do  their  best  to  conquer  when  the 
strife  begins.  So  much  their  constituents  will  demand  of 
them  when  the  4  bloody  struggle  '  the  senator  contemplates 
is  forced  upon  them ;  and  they  will  not  be  disappointed 
when  the  exigency  comes.  I  say  no  more  :  I  wait  the 
isnue,  and  bide  my  time." 

Mr.  Wilson  for  a  long  period  had  been  serving  on  the 
Military  Committee  of  the  Senate,  of  which  Mr.  Jefferson 
Davis  was  chairman ;  and  had  thus  become  familiar  with 


288  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

his  schemes  for  strengthening  the  military  condition  of  the 
South :  he  bad  not,  however,  anticipated  that  secession 
from  the  Union  was  so  close  at  hand.  Though  opposed  to 
each  other  in  principle,  the  personal  relations  between  him 
self  and  Mr.  Davis  were  at  that  time  pleasant ;  and  once 
at  least,  when  Mr.  Wilson  closed  a  strong  speech  in  the 
Senate,  the  Mississippi  senator  came  across  the  floor, 
and  thanked  him  cordially  for  the  manly  expression  of 
his  views.  It  was  while  on  the  Military  Committee  that 
Mr.  Wilson,  in  opposition  to  the  chairman,  carried  the 
"  Signal-service  Bill "  through  Congress,  and  thus  con 
ferred  a  lasting  benefit  upon  the  country.  It  is  not  proba 
ble  that  Mr.  Davis  himself,  until  the  election  in  November, 
imagined  the  secession  of  the  slave  States  very  near.  South 
Carolina  had  always  led  the  van  in  opposition  to  the  North  ; 
and  now,  in  the  culmination  of  the  long  argument,  it  was 
for  her  to  cast  the  fatal  die.  Mr.  Wilson,  with  his  North 
ern  friends,  deplored  her  folly  ;  but  he  foresaw  that  her 
first  shot  would  break  the  chain  of  the  slave,  and  that,  in 
spite  of  the  tongues  of  soothsayers,  the  Union  and  the 
Constitution  still  would  stand. 

He  knew,  perhaps  as  well  as  any  man,  the  comparative 
strength  of  the  contending  parties.  He  saw  in  Mr.  Lin 
coln's  overwhelming  vote  in  the  electoral  college  the  senti 
ment  of  the  nation.  He  well  understood  that  the  struggle 
was,  and  had  been,  whether  free,  or  servile,  labor  should  rule 
the  country ;  and  that  his  party,  which  had  arisen  from  a 
small  band  branded  by  the  name  of  Abolitionists  in  1840 
to  place  by  such  a  vast  majority  a  president  in  the  chair 
in  1860,  had  grown  too  slowly,  fought  too  steadily  on 
the  line  of  sacred  principle,  lo  be  intimidated  by  an  or 
dinance,  or  even  by  the  cannon  of  seceders  from  the 
Union.  He  pointed  out  the  impending  danger,  yet  hoped, 


ME.  CBITTENDEN'S  COMPROMISE.  289 

that,  by  the  policy  of  the  incoming  president,  some  recon 
ciliation  might  be  made  without  recourse  to  arms. 

But  the  vantage-ground  now  reached  must  be  main 
tained.  An  indignant  people  had  at  the  polls  declared  that 
slavery  must  not  be  extended.  By  that  declaration  he 
must  stand.  He  would  not  interfere  with  the  "  peculiar 
institution  "  in  the  States  ;  he  would  exhibit  courtesy,  for 
bearance,  and  fraternity  to  the  South  :  but  the  vast  Ter 
ritories  of  the  Union  must  not  be  surrendered  to  the 
domination  of  the  slaveholding  power.  In  this  position, 
he,  with  his  associates,  stood  intrenched  :  so  that  when 
Mr.  Crittenden's  compromise,  which  made  concessions  to 
the  South,  came  up  in  the  Senate,  he  opposed  it  in  a 
manly  speech  delivered  on  the  21st  of  February,  1861. 
With  the  clearest  apprehension  of  the  situation,  with  the 
history  of  the  whole  struggle  fresh  in  memory,  with  the 
ominous  prospect  of  disunion  rising  up  before  him,  and  with 
a  spirit  fired  by  the  love  of  human  freedom,  he  meets  the 
question  in  a  strain  of  fervid  eloquence,  vindicates  the 
friends  of  liberty,  and  unfolds  the  iniquity  of  the  offered 
compromise. 

After  an  eloquent  introduction,  he  thus  describes  the 
distracted  state  of  the  nation  :  — 

"  One  year  ago  these  chambers  rang  with  passionate  and 
vehement  menaces  of  disunion.  Statesmen  to  whom  were 
committed  the  destinies  of  United  America,  with  the  oath 
of  fidelity  to  the  Constitution  fresh  upon  their  lips,  inso 
lently,  scornfully,  defiantly  threatened  to  shiver  the  no 
blest  edifice,  the  fairest  fabric,  of  free  government  ever 
erected  by  the  toil  or  blessed  by  the  hopes  and  prayers 
of  humanity,  if  the  people,  the  people  of  the  free  North, 
dared  through  the  ballot-box  assume  the  control  of  the 
affairs  of  the  republic.  These  disloyal  avowals  were 

26 


290  LIFE  OF  HENEY  WILSON. 

flashed  over  the  wires,  scattered  broadcast  over  the  land. 
Timid  conservatives  shrank  appalled  before  these  angry 
mutterings  of  meditated  treason,  and,  with  4  bated  breath 
and  whispering  humbleness,'  counselled  submission.  But 
these  treasonable  menaces  unnerved  not  the  souls  of  the 
ever  loyal  freemen  of  the  North  :  they  fired  the  hearts 
and  rekindled  the  patriotism  of  the  unselfish  masses,  —  of 
the  fanners  who  till  their  own  fee-simple  acres,  unpolluted 
by  the  foot  of  the  bondman ;  of  the  mechanics  whose 
hands  are  skilled  by  art ;  of  the  laborers  who  recognize 
no  master  but  Almighty  God.  Impelled  by  the  fervid  and 
unextinguishable  impulse  of  freedom,  by  thec  purest  and 
most  unselfish  patriotism,  the  unseduced,  unpurchased, 
unawed  freemen  of  the  North  calmly  thronged  to  the 
ballot-box,  and  struck  from  faithless,  corrupt,  and  disloyal 
hands  the  reins  of  power. 

"  The  treasonable  words  of  last  year  have  now  hardened 
into  deeds.  Madness  and  folly  rule  the  hour.  Treason 
holds  it  carnival  here  in  -the  national  Capitol.  Men  high 
in  the  national  councils  plot  conspiracies  against  the  gov 
ernment  they  are  sworn  to  defend,  and  clasp  the  hands 
of  the  assassins  of  the  Union.  Men-  to  whom  have  been 
intrusted  official  duties  and  responsibilities  talk  of  the 
dismemberment  of  the  republic,  not  in  the  sad  accents 
of  patriotism,  but  with  the  gleeful  chuckle  of  an  irrepressi 
ble  joy.  States  vauntingly  proclaim  their  withdrawal  from 
the  Union  made  by  the  fathers,  recall  their  representa 
tives  in  these  chambers,  capture  the  fortresses  of  the 
nation,  insult,  dishonor,  and  fire  upon  the  flag  of  the  re 
public,  seize  the  public  property,  and  even  erase  from  their 
festive  days  the  hallowed  anniversary  of  national  inde 
pendence,  with  all  its  glorious  associations  and  thrilling 
memories.  Never,  no,  never,  since  the  morn  of  creation, 


ME.  CRITTENDEN'S  COMPROMISE.  291 

has  the  historic  pen  recorded  a  conspiracy  against  the 
rights  of  man  and  democratic  institutions  so  utterly  cause 
less,  so  wicked  in  its  purpose,  so  regardless  of  the  judg 
ment  of  the  civilized  world  and  the  approval  of  Almighty 
God." 

He  makes  this  reference  to  Mr.  Benton's  views :  — 

"  But,  sir,  this  wicked  plot  for  the  dismemberment  of 
the  Confederacy,  which  has  now  assumed  such  fearful  pro 
portions,  was  known  to  some  of  our  elder  statesmen. 
Thomas  H.  Benton  ever  raised  his  warning  voice  against 
the  conspirators.  I  can  never  forget  the  terrible  energy 
of  his  denunciations. of  the  policy  and  acts  of  the  nullifiers 
and  secessionists.  During  the  great  Lecompton  struggle 
in  the  winter  of  1858,  his  house  was  the  place  of  resort 
of  several  members  of  Congress,  who  sought  his  counsels, 
and  delighted  to  listen  to  his  opinions.  In  the  last  conver 
sation  I  had  with  him,  but  a  few  days  before  he  was  pros 
trated  by  mortal  disease,  he  declared  that  4  the  disunionists 
had  prostituted  the  Democratic  party;'  that c  they  had  com 
plete  control  of  the  administration  ; '  that 4  these  conspirators 
would  have  broken  up  the  Union  if  Col.  Fremont  had 
been  elected ; '  that  '  the  reason  he  opposed  Fremont's 
election  was  that  he  knew  these  men  intended  to  destroy 
the  government,  and  he  did  not  wish  it  to  go  to  pieces  in 
the  hands  of  a  member* of  his  family.' ' 

Repelling  the  reiterated  charge  that  "Massachusetts 
hates  the  South,"  he  said, — 

u  In  the  halls  of  Congress,  in  the  public  journals,  before 
the  people,  everywhere,  the  Christian  people  of  the  North 
are  accused  of  hatred  towards  their  countrymen  of  the 
South  ;  and  these  oft-repeated  accusations  have  penetrated 
the  ears  and  fired  the  hearts  of  the  men  of  the  South  to 
madness.  The  people  of  Massachusetts,  of  New  England, 


292  LIFE  OF  HENBY  WILSON. 

of  the  North,  hate  not  their  countrymen  of  the  South.  I 
know  Massachusetts ;  I  know  something  of  the  sentiments 
and  feelings  of  her  people.  During  the  past  fifteen  years 
I  have  traversed  every  portion  of  the  St^te,  from  the  sands 
of  the  capes  to  the  hills  of  Berkshire;  spoken  in  nearly 
every  town ;  sat  at  the  tables  and  slept  beneath  the  roofs 
of  her  people.  Around  those  tables  and  beneath  those 
roofs  I  have  heard  prayers  to  Almighty  God  for  blessings 
on  slave  and  on  master.  From  thousands  of  Christian 
homes  in  Massachusetts,  New  England,  the  North,  tens 
of  thousands  of  men  and  women  daily  implore  God's  bless 
ing  upon  the  whole  country,  —  upon  the  poor  slave  and 
his  proud  master.  Around  the  firesides  of  the  liberty- 
loving,  God-fearing  families  of  Massachusetts,  I  have  often 
heard  the  men,  stigmatized  as  '  malignant,  unrelenting 
enemies  of  the  people  of  the  South,'  on  their  bended  knees, 
with  open  Bible,  implore  the  protection  and  blessing  of 
Almighty  God  upon  both  master  and  slave,  upon  the  peo 
ple  of  the  whole  country.  Gentlemen  of  the  South  visit 
ing  Massachusetts  on  pleasure  or  business  are  ever  treated 
by  all  her  people  with  considerate  kindness  and  fraternal 
regard.  The  public  men  of  the  South  are  ever  welcomed 
to  Massachusetts,  treated  with  courtesy  by  all,  and  some 
times  with  '  complimentary  flunkeyism '  by  the  few.  I 
assert  positively,  without  hesitation  or  qualification,  that 
the  people  of  Massachusetts,  ay,  of  New  England,  manifest 
more  kindness  and  courtesy  towards  their  fellow-country 
men  of  the  South  sojourning 'among  them  than  they  do 
towards  their  fellow-countrymen  of  the  central  States  and 
of  the  West.  Yancey,  Henry,  Milliard,  and  other  distin 
guished  sons  of  the  South,  were,  during  the  late  canvass, 
listened  to  in  New  England  with  attention  and  the  utmost 
courtesy ;  and  that,  too,  when  quiet  citizens  of  Massachu- 


ME.  CRITTENDEN'S  COMPROMISE.  293 

setts  were,  in  portions  of  the  South,  subjected  to  the  great 
est  indignities.  .  .  . 

"  Not  one,  no,  not  one,  in  a  thousand  of  the  men  who 
voted  for  Abraham  Lincoln,  cherishes  in  his  heart  a  feeling 
of  hatred  towards  the  South,  or  the  wish  to  put  the  brand 
of  inequality  or  degradation  upon  the  brow  of  his  country 
men  of  that  section  of  the  Union.  They  would  as  gener 
ously  contribute  of  their  treasure,  they  would  as  freely 
pour  out  their  blood,  for  the  defence  of  the  South,  as  they 
would  for  the  protection  of  their  own  Northern  homes. 
Believers  in  that  Christianity  which  unites  all  men  as 
brethren,  which  makes  man  unutterably  dear  to  his  fellow- 
man,  which  impels  its  disciples  to  raise  the  fallen,  and  to 
labor  for  the  elevation  of  the  poor  and  the  lowly  of  the 
children  of  men,  oppose  the  wrong,  yet  hate  not  the  wrong 
doer.'' 

He  thus  defends  his  constituents  from  the  imputation 
of  fanaticism :  — 

"  The  distinguishing  opinion  of  Massachusetts  concern 
ing  slavery  in  America  is  often  flippantly  branded  in  these 
halls  as  wild,  passionate,  unreasoning  fanaticism.  Sena 
tors  of  the  South,  tell  me,  I  pray  you  tell  me,  if  it  be 
fanaticism  for  Massachusetts  to  see  in  this  age  what  your 
peerless  Washington  saw  in  his  age,  — '  the  direful  effects 
of  slavery.*  Is  it  fanaticism  for  Massachusetts  to  believe 
as  your  Henry  believed,  that  '  slavery  is  as  repugnant 
to  humanity  as  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  Bible  and  de 
structive  to  liberty '  ?  Is  it  fanaticism  for  her  to  believe  as 
your  Madison  believed,  that  4  slavery  is  a  dreadful  calam 
ity  '  ?  Is  it  fanaticism  for  her  to  believe  with  your  Mon 
roe,  that  4  slavery  has  preyed  upon  the  vitals  of  the  Union, 
and  has  been  prejudicial  to  all  the  States  in  which  it  has 
existed '  ?  Is  it  fanaticism  for  her  to  believe  with  your 

25» 


294  LIFE  OF   HENKY  WILSON. 

Martin,  that  *  slavery  lessens  the  sense  of  the  equal  rights  ol 
mankind,  and  habituates  us  to  tyranny  and  oppression '  ? 
Is  it  fanaticism  for  her  to  believe  with  your  Pinckney,  that 
4  it  will  one  day  destroy  the  reverence  for  liberty  which  ;'» 
the  vital  principle  of  a  republic  '  ?  Is  it  fanaticism  foi 
her  to  believe  with  your  Henry  Clay,  that  '  slavery  is  a 
wrong,  a  grievous  wrong;  no  contingency  can  make  it 
right '  ?  Surely  senators  who  are  wont  to  accuse  Mas 
sachusetts  of  being  drunk  with  fanaticism  should  not  for 
get  that  the  noblest  men  the  South  has  given  to  the 
service  of  the  republic  in  peace  and  in  war  were  her 
teachers. 

"  Massachusetts  in  her  heart  of  hearts  loves  liberty, 
loathes  slavery.  I  glory  in  her  sentiments ;  for  the  heart 
of  our  common  humanity  is  throbbing  in  sympathy  with 
her  opinions.  But  she  is  not  unmindful  of  her  constitu 
tional  duties,  to  her  obligations  to  the  Union,  and  to  her 
sister  States.  Up  to  the  verge  of  constitutional  power  she 
will  go  in  maintenance  of  her  cherished  convictions ;  but 
she  has  not  shrunk,  and  she  does  not  mean  to  shrink,  from 
the  performance  of  her  obligations  as  a  member  of  this 
confederation  of  constellated  States.  She  has  never  sought, 
she  does  not  seek,  to  encroach  by  her  own  acts,  or  by  the 
action  of  the  Federal  Government,  upon  the  constitutional 
rights  of  her  sister  States.  Jealous  of  her  own  rights,  she 
will  respect  the  rights  of  others.  Claiming  the  power  to 
control  her  own  domestic  policy,  she  freely  accords  that 
power  to  her  sister  States.  Conceding  the  rights  of  others, 
she  demands  her  own.  Loyal  to  the  Union,  she  demands 
loyalty  in  others.  Here  and  now,  I  demand  of  her  ac 
cusers  that  they  file  their  bill  of  specifications,  and  pro 
duce  tho  proofs  of  their  allegations,  or  forever  hold  their 
peace." 


MB.  CEITTENDEN'S  COMPROMISE.  295 

Thus  grandly  he  speaks  of  the  spirit  of  the  State  he 
represents :  — 

44  In  other  days,  when  Adams,  Webster,  Davis,  Everett, 
Cashing,  Choate,  Winthrop,  Mann,  Rantoul,  and  their 
associates,  graced  these  chambers,  Massachusetts  was  then, 
as  she  is  now,  the  object  of  animadversion  and  assault.  I 
have  sometimes  thought,  Mr.  President,  that  these  con 
tinual  assaults  upon  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts 
were  prompted,  not  by  her  faults,  but  by  her  virtues  rather; 
not  by  the  sense  of  justice,  but  by  the  spirit  of  envy  and 
jealousy  and  uncharitableness.  Unawed,  however,  by 
censure  or  menace,  she  continues  to  move  right  on,  up 
ward  and  onward,  to  the  accomplishment  of  her  high 
destinies.  She  is  but  a  speck,  a  mere  patch,  on  the  surface 
ot  America,  hardly  more  than  one  four-hundredth  part  of 
the  territory  of  the  republic,  with  a  rugged  soil,  and  still 
more  rugged  clime.  But  on  that  little  spot  of  the  globe 
is  a  Commonwealth  where  common  consent  is  recognized 

O 

as  the  only  just  basis  of  fundamental  law,  and  personal 
freedom  is  secured  in  its  completest  individuality.  In 
that  Commonwealth  are  a  million  and  a  quarter  of  free 
men,  with  skilled  hand  and  cultivated  brain  ;  with  nine 
hundred  millions  of  taxable  wealth,  and  an  annual  pro 
ductive  industry  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  millions  ;  with 
mechanic  arts  and  manufactures  on  every  streamlet,  and 
commerce  on  the  waves  of  all  the  seas ;  with  institutions 
of  moral  and  mental  culture  open  to  all,  and  art,  science, 
and  literature  illustrated  by  glorious  names ;  with  benevo 
lent  institutions  for  the  sons  and  daughters  of  misfortune 
and  poverty,  and  charities  for  humanity  the  wide  world 
over.  The  heart,  the  soul,  the  reason  of  Massachusetts 
send  up  perpetual  aspirations  for  the  unity,  indivisibility, 
and  eternity  of  the  North-American  republic :  but  if 


296  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

it  shall  be  rent,  torn,  dissevered,  she  will  not  lose  hei 
faith  in  God  and  humanity ;  she  will  not  go  down  with 
the  falling  fortunes  of  her  country  without  making  a 
struggle  to  preserve  and  perpetuate  free  institutions.  So 
long  as  the  ocean  shall  roll  at  her  feet,  so  long  as  God  shall 
send  her  health-giving  breezes  and  sunshine  and  rain,  she 
will  endeavor  to  illustrate,  in  the  future  as  in  the  past, 
the  daily  beauty  of  freedom  secured  and  protected  by 
law." 

On  the  money  question  he  truly  says,  — 

"  But  the  senator  from  Texas  tells  us  that  money  is  the 
sinew  of  war ;  that  we  of  the  North  have  no  money  ;  that 
they  gather  gold  in  hundreds  of  millions  from  the  stalk  of 
the  cotton-plant.  They  send  the  negro,  he  says,  to  the 
field  :  he  gathers  cotton  from  the  stalk,  brings  it  to  the  gin- 
house,  puts  it  through  the  necessary  process,  and  rolls  out 
a  bale  of  five  ten-dollar  gold-pieces.  But  the  senator  did 
not  tell  us  that  it  might  have  cost  six  ten-dollar  gold-pieces 
to  get  this  bale  of  five  ten-dollar  gold-pieces.  The  senator 
seems  to  belong  to  that  class  of  political  economists  that 
never  count  the  cost  of  maintaining  '  King  Cotton.'  I 
would  remind  the  senator  that  we  of  the  North  take  this 
bale  of  cotton  the  negro  picks,  pay  the  five  ten-dollar  gold- 
pieces,  stamp  upon  it  our  skill,  art,  civilization,  send  it 
back,  and  they  of  the  South  promise  to  give  five  bales  of 
the  next  crop  for  it ;  but  I  regret  to  say,  sir,  we  are  often 
forced  to  take  fewer  than  are  promised.  I  would  remind 
the  boastful  senator  that  the  people  of  the  cotton  con 
federacy  are  in  debt  to  the  amount  of  millions  ;  that  they 
are  not  paying  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar  of  their  indebted 
ness  ;  that  the  proceeds  of  the  last  cotton-crop  will  not 
extinguish  that  indebtedness.  I  would  remind  the  senator, 
who  tells  us  we  of  the  North  have  no  money,  that  they  pick 


MB.  CRITTENDEN'S  COMPROMISE.  297 

it  by  millions  from  the  stalk  of  the  cotton-plant,  that  the 
working-men  of  Massachusetts,  whom  gentlemen  of  the 
South  predicted  would  be  in  a  state  of  starvation  and  insur 
rection  ere  this,  have  on  deposit,  in  the  savings-banks  alone, 
forty-five  millions  of  dollars,  —  millions  more  than  are  de 
posited  in  all  the  banks  of  the  seven  seceding  States  by  mer 
chants,  bankers,  planters,  and  all  classes  of  their  people." 

Of  the  compromise  he  remarks,  — 

"  The  senator  proposes  to  amend  the  Constitution  so  as 
to  provide  that  '  in  all  the  territory  now  held  or  here 
after  acquired,  situate  north  of  latitude  thirty-six  degrees 
and  thirty  minutes,  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  is 
prohibited ;  and,  in  all  territory  now  held  or  hereafter 
acquired  south  of  that  line  of  latitude,  slavery  shall  be 
recognized  as  existing,  and  shall  be  protected  by  the  terri 
torial  legislature  during  its  territorial  existence.'  This, 
sir,  is  called  a  compromise  of  the  slavery  question  in  the 
Territories  of  the  United  States.  A  compromise  !  —  a 
compromise  of  the  slavery  question  in  the  Territories  I  It 
is,  sir,  a  cheat,  a  delusion,  a  snare.  It  is  an  unqualified 
concession,  a  complete  surrender  of  all  practical  issues  con 
cerning  slavery  in  the  Territories,  to  the  demands  of  slave 
propagandism." 

He  closes  this  masterly  effort  in  these  comprehensive 
words :  — 

"  But  the  senator  from  Kentucky  asks  us  of  the  North, 
by  irrepealable  constitutional  amendments,  to  recognize 
and  protect  slavery  in  the  Territories  now  existing  or  here 
after  acquired  south  of  thirty-six  degrees  thirty  minutes  ;  to 
deny  power  to  the  Federal  Government  to  abolish  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  in  the  forts,  arsenals,  navy- 
yards,  and  places  under  the  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  Con 
gress  ;  to  deny  to  the  National  Government  all  power  t« 


298  LIFE  OF   HENEY  WILSON. 

hinder  the  transit  of  slaves  through  one  State  lo  another , 
to  take  from  persons  of  the  African  race  the  elective  fran 
chise  ;  and  to  purchase  territory  in  South  America  or  Africa, 
and  to  send  them,  at  the  expense  of  the  treasury  of  the 
United  States,  such  free  negroes  as  the  States  may  desire 
removed  from  their  limits.  And  what  does  the  senator  pro 
pose  to  concede  to  us  of  the  North  ?  The  prohibition  of  sla 
very  in  Territories  north  of  thirty-six  degrees  thirty  min 
utes,  where  no  one  asks  for  its  inhibition  ;  where  it  has  been 
made  impossible  by  the  victory  of  freedom  in  Kansas  and 
"the  equalization  of  the  fees  of  the  slave  commissioners. 
And  this  —  this  plan  of  concession  —  is  called  a  com 
promise, —  the  Crittenden  Compromise,  —  to  be  supported 
by  the  representatives  of  millions  of  Northern  freemen, 
on  pain  of  having  their  fidelity  to  the  Union  questioned  by 
the  senator  from  Illinois,  and  his  confederates  in  and  out 
of  this  chamber. 

"  Such,  Mr.  President,  are  the  propositions  of  the  senator 
from  Kentucky,  which  we  of  the  North  are  asked  to  put 
into  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  beyond  the 
power  of  the  American  people  ever  to  change  or  repeal. 
The  unclouded  reason,  the  enlightened  conscience,  the 
love  of  country  and  of  our  race,  —  all,  all,  forbid  that 
Northern  freemen  should  commit  these  crimes  against 
mankind,  our  country,  and  the  cause  of  popular  freedom 
and  republican  institutions.  We  can  not,  no,  sir,  we  dare 
not,  do  so.  We  fear  —  should  we  consummate  these 
wrongs  to  our  country,  to  our  race  —  the  perpetual  re 
proaches  of  insulted  reason  and  violated  conscience,  the  ir 
reversible  judgment  of  earth  and  of  heaven.  We  fear 
that  our  names  will  be  enrolled,  not  with  the  benefactors 
of  mankind,  but  with  those  who  have  betrayed  the  cause 
of  the  people.  We  fear  •— •  should  we  assent  to  this  eter* 


LETTERS.  299 

nization  of  slavery  in  the  Constitution  our  fathers  framed 
to  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  —  that  we  shall  sink, '  after 
life's  fitful  fever,'  into  dishonored  graves,  amid  the  curses 
of  a  betrayed  people  ;  and  that  our  names  will  be  consigned 
to  what  Grattan,  the  great  Irish  orator,  called  '  oppression's 
natural  scourge,  —  the  moral  indignation  of  history.' ' 

This  speech  drew  forth  expressions  of  admiration  from 
all  sections  of  the  country,  which  appeared  in  the  public 
journals,  or  in  resolutions,  or  in  private  letters.  Mr.  Whit- 
tier  the  poet  wrote  as  follows  :  — 

AMESBURY,  23d  2d  mo.,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  WILSON,  —  I  have  this  moment  finished 
reading  thy  admirable  and  timely  speech.  It  is  as  I  wished 
it,  —  manly,  frank,  and  dignified.  Especially  I  was  gratified 
by  the  portion  of  it  directed  to  Crittenden's  plan.  The 
tribute  to  the  colored  citizens  is  a  very  noble  and  eloquent 
one,  and  ought  to  shame  every  Massachusetts  man  whose 
name  is  on  the  Crittenden  petitions. 

Very  truly  thy  friend, 

JOHN  G.  WHITTIER. 

The  gifted  Mrs.  L.  M.  Child  wrote  thus :  — 

MEDFORD,  March  10,  1861. 

DEAR  AND  HONORED  REPRESENTATIVE  OF  THE  FREE 
OLD  COMMONWEALTH,  —  I  have  just  finished  reading 
aloud  to  my  husband  your  speech  on  Mr.  Crittenden's 
proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution ;  and  I  cannot 
refrain  from  writing  to  thank  you  for  it  with  my  whole 
heart.  Eloquent,  able,  true,  brave  words,  such  as  the 
times  need.  I  had  seen  extracts  from  your  speech  which 
made  my  heart  throb  with  a  generous  joy.  I  was  almost 
afraid  to  read  the  entire  speech,  lest  some  word,  meant  for 


300  LIFE  OF  HEKEY  WILSON. 

conciliation,  but  which  would  be  compromise,  should  abate 
somewhat  my  exultation  in  the  honest  and  true  expression 
of  Massachusetts  feeling  ;  but,  as  I  proceeded,  the  reading 
was  only  interrupted  by  exclamations  of  "  Well  done,  Wil 
son  !  "  "  That  is  manly  !  "  "  That's  a  good  hit !  "  &c.  You 
have  made  many  able  speeches ;  and  I  have  often  felt 
grateful  to  you  for  true,  manly  utterance.  In  your  speech, 
u  Are  working-men  slaves  ?  "  I  greatly  admired  the  digni 
fied  frankness  with  which  you  announced  yourself  a  work 
ing-man  ;  for  no  feeling  in  my  soul  is  stronger  than  respect 
for  labor.  The  physical  courage  and  moral  bravery  you 
manifested  on  the  subject  of  duelling  commanded  my  un 
qualified  respect.  You  stood  firmly  in  your  position,  took 
back  no  word  you  had  uttered,  but  simply  said, 4-  Duelling  is 
a  barbarism  ;  my  conscience  and  reason  are  opposed  to  it ; 
the  conscience  and  reason  of  my  constituents  are  opposed 
to  it ;  and  no  force  of  example  shall  degrade  me  to  its  level." 
That  is  what  I  have  always  ivanted  Northerners  to  say. 
If  all  Northern  men  would  manifest  the  same  moral  cour 
age,  slaveholders  would  be  compelled  to  respect  freedom 
of  speech,  or  resort  to  assassination.  They  could  no 
longer  murder  their  opponents,  or  threaten  it,  under  the 
painted  mask  of  "  laws  of  honor." 

But,  much  as  I  have  admired  several  of  your  former 
speeches,  you  have  never  so  completely  gained  my  heart 
as  in  this  last  one.  I  have  so  often  closed  the  reading  of 
Republican  speeches  with  the  remark,  "  Ah  !  they  think 
only  of  the  interests  of  white  men  :  they  ignore  the  mon 
strous  and  perpetual  wrongs  that  we  are  helping  the  South 
to  inflict  upon  the  colored  race." 

Yours  with  great  respect  and  gratitude, 

L.  MARIA  CHILD, 
Hon.  H.  WILSON,  U.  S.  Senator. 


LETTERS.  301 

From  Gerrit  Smith  the  following  letter  was  received :  — 

Hon.  HENRY  WILSON.  PRINCETON,  Feb.  26,  1861. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  I  have  just  finished  reading  your  man 
ly,  bold,  strong,  and  eloquent  speech  of  the  21st  instant. 
Heaven  bless  you  for  it !  Let  there  be  no  compromise  with 
men  whilst  they  are  in  the  attitude  of  rebels.  When  they 
shall  have  returned  to  their  allegiance,  then  deal  with  them 
not  only  justly,  but  generously.  If  the  people  of  the  slave 
States  —  not  merely  the  politicians  — r  shall  tell  us  that 
they  wish  to  leave  us,  then  let  them  go,  if  they  will  go 
peaceably  and  decently.  But  we  can  never  consent  to 
their  going  in  a  way  that  will  disgrace  us,  demoralize  and 
destroy  our  government.  Nor  can  we  consent  to  a  small 
secession  on  any  terms.  We  cannot  let  the  Gulf  States 
go  unless  most  of  the  other  slave  States  go  with  them. 
We  cannot  consent,  for  the  gratification  of  a  few  States,  to 
lose  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  to  leave  ourselves 
comparatively  defenceless  on  the  south. 

Give  my  love  to  dear  Sumner,  and  tell  him  that  I  hope 
to  read  a  grand  speech  from  him  before  the  session  closes. 
With  great  regard,  your  friend, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

Mr.  Amasa  Walker  wrote  as  follows :  — 

NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  March  11,  1861. 

DEAR  SIR,  —  I  have  received  your  speech  on  the  Crit- 
tenden  Compromise,  and  read  it  with  great  satisfaction. 

You  have  met  the  true  issue  fully  and  ably,  and  will 
receive  the   approbation  of    all  your  constituents,  and,  I 
doubt  not,  of  the  Republican  party  generally. 
Your  friend  and  servant, 

AMASA  WALKER, 
Hon.  HENRY  WILSON,  U.  S.  Senator,  Washington,  D.C. 

26 


302  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

But  perhaps,  of  all  the  testimonials  of  gratitude  which 
the  senator  received  for  his  great  speech,  none  was  more 
acceptable  than  the  following  from  an  association  of  that 
race  whose  wrongs  he  had  been  so  long  struggling  to 
remove :  < — 

At  a  regular  meeting  of  the  Union  Progressive  Asso 
ciation,  —  a  literary  society  composed  of  young  colored 
men,  —  held  at  their  rooms  Feb.  27,  the  following  vote  of 
thanks  was  unanimously  adopted :  — 

Whereas,  The  adoption  by  Congress  of  that  monstrous 
proposition  known  as  the  Crittenden  Compromise  would 
extend,  perpetuate,  and  give  the  sanction  of  law  to  that 
infernal  system  which  keeps  four  millions  of  our  brethren 
in  bondage,  and  would  deprive  us  young  colored  men  of 
Massachusetts  of  prospective  rights,  the  enjoyment  of 
which  we  have  looked  forward  to  with  the  most  ardent 
anticipations ;  and 

Wliereas,  In  this  hour  of  our  peril,  when  there  are  so 
few  men  occupying  places  of  trust  who  have  the  moral 
courage  to  plead  our  cause  and  defend  our  rights  when 
they  are  assailed,  we  should  be  recreants  to  our  race  and 
to  ourselves  did  we  not  recognize  the  value  and  importance 
of  words  spoken  in  our  behalf  by  our  friends  at  this  time : 
therefore 

Resolved,  That  the  grateful  thanks  of  this  association 
are  tendered  to  the  honorable  senator  from  Massachu 
setts,  Henry  Wilson,  for  his  able  analysis  and  lucid  expo 
sition  of  the  enormities  of  the  "  Crittenden  Surrender," 
and  also  for  his  manly  recognition  and  eloquent  enumera 
tion  of  the  services  of  our  patriot  fathers  in  the  war  foi 
American  independence.  We  shall  ever  hold  his  name  in 


VOTE  OF  THANKS.  303 

grateful  remembrance  for  the  noble  and  generous  words 
uttered  on  that  occasion,  worthy  as  they  are  of  a  son  of  old 

Massachusetts.  . 

WILLIAM  C.  NELL,  President. 

R.  Z.  GREENER,  Secretary. 

To  the  Honorable  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  HENRY  WILSON. 
BOSTON,  Feb.  27,  1861. 


.      CHAPTER    XV. 

THE   OPENING    OF    THE  WAR.  —  MR.   WILSON' S    ENERGETIC 

ACTION. HIS  MEASURES  IN  CONGRESS. GEN.  SCOTT'S 

OPINION    OF    HIS    SERVICES. THE    MASSACHU 
SETTS  TWENTY-SECOND    REGIMENT. HIS 

UNSELFISH  PATRIOTISM. HIS  LA 
BORS    IN   THE    SENATE. 


The  Beginning  of  Hostilities.  —  His  Advice  to  the  President.  —  Activity.— 
Labors  as  Chairman  of  Military  Committee.  —  Bills  introduced  by  him.  — 
Letter  from  Gen.  Scott. —  The  Soldiers'  Friend.  —  Battle  of  Bull  Run, 
July  21.  —  He  raises  nearly  Twenty-three  Hundred  Men.  —  Made  Colonel  of 
the  Twenty-second  Regiment.  —  Goes  with  it  to  Washington.  —  Character 
of  this  Regiment.  —  Aide-de-camp  to  Gen.  McClellan.  —  Letter  of  Gen. 
Williams.  —  Receives  no  Compensation  for  Service.  —  Unfounded  Charge 
of  Mr.  Russell.  —Mr.  Wilson's  Letter.  — His  Record.— Rebellion  strength 
ens.  —  Character  of  the  Republican  Leaders.  —  Measures  introduced  and 
carried  through  Congress  by  Mr.  Wilson.  —  Letter  of  Mr.  Cameron. — 
Emancipation  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  —  An  Early  Aspiration  realized. 
—  Letters  from  Lewis  Tappan  and  John  Jay. 


THE  inaugural  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  conciliatory,  but 
decided.  It  echoed  the  sentiment  of  the  Republican 
party,  declaring  that  the  Constitution  should  be  faithfully 
regarded,  and  the  rights  of  Southern  men  respected.  It 
served,  however,  but  to  inflame  the  animosity  of  the  seces 
sionists  ;  and,  on  the  afternoon  of  April  12,  the  fearful 
drama  opened  by  the  cannonade  upon  Fort  Sumter. 
"  Those  guns  proclaim  the  doom  of  slavery,"  said  Mr 

304 


ENERGETIC  ACTION.  305 

Wilson;  "but  a  tremendous  conflict  is  befoie  us."  He 
and  Mr.  Wajbridge  of  New  York  advised  the  president 
(May  1)  to  call  for  three  hundred  thousand  instead  of 
seventy-five  thousand  men ;  and,  persuading  the  secretary 
of  war  to  double  the  number  of  men  apportioned  to  the 
State  he  represented,  he  telegraphed  immediately  to  Gov. 
Andrew,  requesting  that  one  brigade  be  sent  at  once  to 
Washington.  Returning  home,  he  received  intelligence 
that  the  Sixth  Massachusetts  Regiment,  under  Col.  Edward 
F.  Jones,  had  been  fired  upon  while  passing  through  the 
streets  of  Baltimore.  Spending  a  sleepless  night,  he 
started  on  the  following  day  for  Washington.  Learning 
that  communication  with  that  city  had  been  closed,  he  left 
New  York  on  April  21,  and  went  by  water  with  the  troops 
to  Annapolis.  On  finding  Gen.  Butler  here  in  want  of 
cannon  to  defend  the  place,  he  returned  immediately  to  New 
York,  obtained  some  heavy  pieces  of  artillery,  and  then, 
as  soon  as  possible,  went  to  Washington,  where  he  continued 
laboring  day  and  night  in  making  preparations  for  the 
coming  conflict.  In  the  hospital,  the  camp,  the  cabinet, 
his  cheerful  voice  was  heard  encouraging  and  counselling  ; 
and,  by  his  earnest  exhortations,  many  persons  in  those 
dark  days  of  doubt  and  indecision  were  induced  to  ignore 
minor  differences,  and  to  stand  fast  by  the  Union.  As  the 
rebellion  strengthened,  Mr.  Lincoln  saw  that  more  efficient 
measures  must  be  taken  to  subdue  it ;  and  he  therefore 
called  an  extra  session  of  Congress,  which  assembled  on  the 
fourth  day  of  July,  and  at  once  proceeded  to  important 
business. 

As  chairman  of  the  Military  Committee  of  the  Senate, 
Mr.  Wilson  entered  on  a  course  of  ceaseless  toil  and  vigi 
lance.  It  was  a  post  of  vast  responsibility,  demanding 
clear  conception,  solid  judgment,  great  executive  ability, 

26* 


306  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

and  a  practical  knowledge  of  military  affairs.  An  army 
was  to  be  raised,  equipped,  and  officered  ;  supplies  and  hos 
pitals  were  to  be  provided,  and  funds  for  carrying  on  the 
war  obtained.  It  was  fortunate  that  the  government  found 
in  Mr.  Wilson  one  who,  by  long  experience  in  legislative 
and  military  life,  by  comprehensive  views,  by  good  sound 
common  sense,  and  by  celerity  of  execution,  was  qualified 
to  meet  the  occasion. 

With  an  energy  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  legisla 
tion,  he  engaged  in  making  preparations  for  the  coming 
conflict. 

On  the  6th  of  July  he  introduced  into  the  Senate  the 
important  bill  authorizing  the  president  to  call  for  five  hun 
dred  thousand  volunteers,  which  on  the  21st  of  that  month 
became  a  law  ;  also  the  bill  to  "  increase  the  military  estab 
lishment  of  the  United  States,"  which  was  approved  by  the 
president  on  the  29th  of  July  ;  and  the  bill  providing  for 
the  "  better  organization  of  the  military  establishment." 
It  contained  twenty-five  sections,  and  received  the  signa 
ture  of  the  president  on  the  third  day  of  August. 

Of  the  last  bill  Mr.  Wilson  said,  "  I  have  labored  night 
and  day  for  many  days  and  nights  to  fit  and  prepare  this 
bill  to  meet  the  actual  wants  of  the  country ;  and,  in  doing 
so,  I  confess  that  in  every  step  of  it  I  have  had  to  meet 
the  interests,  the  jealousies,  or  the  prejudices  of  men  con 
nected  with  the  army  of  the  United  States  :  but,  in  framing 
it,  I  have  endeavored  to  be  governed  wholly  by  the  public 
interest." 

On  the  22d  of  July  he  introduced  the  bill  authorizing 
the  president  "  to  accept  of  the  services  of  volunteers,  either 
as  cavalry,  infantry,  or  artillery,  in  such  numbers  as  the 
exigencies  of  the  public  service  might  in  his  opinion 
demand."  This  bill  became  a  law  on  the  26th  of  the 


ENERGETIC  ACTION.  307 

same  month.  On  the  29th  be  brought  forward  a  bill  to 
provide  for  the  purchase  of  arms,  ordnance,  and  ordnance- 
stores,  which  was  approved  by  the  president  on  the  third 
day  of  August ;  and  on  the  last  day  of  July  he  presented 
the  bill  for  the  appointment  of  additional  aides-de-camp, 
which  was  enacted  on  the  5th  of  August.  By  a  provision 
of  this  act,  the  barbarous  custom  of  flogging  was  abolished 
in  the  army.  On  the  first  day  of  August  he  introduced 
the  bill  for  making  an  appropriation  of  a  hundred  thou 
sand  dollars  for  contingencies  for  fortifications,  and  on  the 
next  day  the  "  bill  to  authorize  an  increase  in  the  corps  of 
engineers  and  topographical  engineers." 

On  the  5th  of  the  same  month  he  introduced  an  im 
portant  bill  to  increase  the  pay  of  privates  in  the  army 
from  eleven  to  thirteen  dollars  per  month  ;  also  to  extend 
the  provisions  of  the  act  "  for  the  relief  of  the  Ohio  volun 
teers  and  other  volunteers  "  to  all  volunteers,  no  matter 
for  what  term  of  service  they  might  have  been  accepted.  He 
also  added  an  amendment  to  the  bill,  that  all  the  acts,  proc 
lamations,  and  orders  of  the  president  after  the  4th  of 
March,  1861,  respecting  the.  army  and  navy,  be  legalized 
and  made  valid.  This  received  the  approval  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
on  the  6th  of  August. 

To  frame,  explain,  and  defend  these  various  bills,  which 
called  into  being,  organized,  and  provisioned  a  vast  army, 
demanded  an  extent  of  information,  a  constructive  ability, 
and  a  rapidity  of  execution,  such  as  but  few  law-makers 
possess.  In  view  of  these  herculean  labors,  Gen.  Scott 
remarked  that  "Senator  Wilson  had  done  more  work 
in  that  short  session  than  all  the  chairmen  of  the  military 
committees  had  done  for  the  last  twenty  years."  He 
afterwards  addressed  to  him  the  folio  win  or  note  of 

o 

tlianks :  — 


308  LIFE  OF  HENKY  WILSON. 

WASHINGTON,  Aug.  10,  1861. 

DEAR  SIR,  —  In  taking  leave  of  you  some  days  ago,  I 
fear  that  I  did  not  so  emphatically  express  my  thanks  to 
yon,  as  our  late  chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee,  as  my 
feelings  and  those  of  my  brother-officers  of  the  army  (with 
whom  I  have  conversed)  warranted,  for  your  able  and 
zealous  efforts  to  give  to  the  service  the  fullest  war  devel 
opment  and  efficiency.  It  is  pleasing  to  remember  the 
pains  you  took  to  obtain  accurate  information,  wherever  it 
could  be  found,  as  a  basis  for  wise  legislation  ;  and  we  hope 
it  may  be  long  before  the  army  loses  your  valuable  services 
in  the  same  capacity. 

With  great  esteem, 

Yours  very  truly, 

WINFIELD  SCOTT. 
Hon.  H.  WILSON,  Chairman  Senate  Military  Committee. 

Such  strenuous  action  for  the  soldier  in  the  Senate-cham 
ber,  camp,  and  hospital,  such  cordial  sympathy  with  him 
in  his  toils  and  sufferings,  gained  for  Mr.  Wilson  the  envi 
able  name  of  "THE  SOLDIER'S  FRIEND." 

Mr.  Wilson  was  personally  present  at  the  disastrous  bat 
tle  of  Bull  Run,  July  21,  aiding  and  encouraging  officers 
and  privates  as  he  had  opportunity.  Attempts  were  made 
by  the  confederates  to  secure  his  person ;  but  he  returned 
to  Washington  in  safety.  Undismayed  by  the  repulse,  he 
said  to  one  of  his  friends  on  Monday  following,  "  This  is 
our  chastisement  for  fio-htinoc  on  the  sabbath.  But  we  are 

C^  O 

right  in  principle  :  God  is  on  the  side  of  right ;  and  we  shall 
win  if  we  obey  him.  We  want  more  men  ;  we  must  go 
to  work  for  them ;  and,  just  as  soon  as  possible,  I  intend  to 
raise  a  regiment  in  Massachusetts." 


THE  TWENTY-SECOND  EEGIMENT.  009 

On  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  the  president  was 
desirous  that  Mr.  Wilson  should  be  appointed  brigadier- 
general  of  volunteers  ;  but,  as  this  would  compel  the 
resignation  of  his  seat  as  senator,  he  preferred  to  carry  out 
hii  original  design  of  raising  a  regiment  of  men  at  home. 
Obtaining  authority  for  this,  he  returned  to  Massachusetts, 
issued  an  address,  held  an  enthusiastic  meeting  in  Faneuil 
Hall,  and  commenced  recruiting.  Such  was  his  popularity, 
that,  in  'the  space  of  forty  days,  he  raised  nearly  two 
thousand  three  hundred  men.  They  were  strong,  in 
telligent  farmers,  mechanics,  and  tradesmen,  from  the 
good  families  of  the  Commonwealth.  Out  of  them  were 
formed  the  Twenty-second  Regiment,  a  part  of  the  Twenty- 
third  Regiment,  one  company  of  sharpshooters,  and  two 
batteries  of  artillery.  The  first  company  went  into  camp 
at  Lynnfield  on  the  second  day  of  September  ;  and  on  that 
day  Mr.  Wilson  received  his  commission  from  the  governor 
as  colonel,  with  the  distinct  understanding,  however,  that 
his  senatorial  duties  would  permit  him  to  remain  with  the 
regiment  only  for  a  brief  period  ;  and  that  he  would,  on 
leaving  it,  endeavor  to  find  some  able  commander  to 
assume  his  place.  On  the  eighth  day  of  October,  the 
regiment,  with  full  ranks,  and  armed  with  Enfield  rifles, 
together  with  the  company  of  sharpshooters  and  the  third 
battery  of  light  artillery,  left  for  Washington.  Previous 
to  his  departure,  Mr.  Wilson  received  as  a  present  from 
some  friends  a  fine  Morgan  horse,  with  saddle  and  hous 
ings,  as  a  testimonial  of  their  confidence  and  regard ;  and 
a  splendid  flag  was  presented  by  Robert  C.  Winthrop  to 
the  regiment  on  Boston  Common.  On  their  way  to  Wash 
ington,  these  troops  were  most  enthusiastically  greeted 
by  the  people.  In  New  York  a  banquet  was  prepared  for 


810  LIFE   OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

them,  attended  by  eminent  men  of  every  party.  A  beau 
tiful  flag  was  presented  to  the  regiment  by  the  late  dis 
tinguished  lawyer,  James  T.  Brady.  They  arrived  at 
Washington  on  the  eleventh  day  of  October  ;  and  two  days 
later,  crossing  the  Potomac,  went  into  camp  with  Gen. 
Martindale's  brigade  in  Fitz-John  Porter's  division  at 
Hall's  Hill  in  Virginia.  His  duties  in  connection  with  the 
Senate  rendered  it  necessary  for  Mr.  Wilson  to  leave  his 
fine  regiment :  and  he  therefore  gave  up  his  commission  on 
the  28th  of  October ;  and  the  accomplished  Jesse  D.  Gove 
(killed  June  27,  1862,  at  Gaines's  Mills,  Va.)  was  ap 
pointed  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

When  the  regiment,  after  the  unfortunate  battle  of 
Ball's  Bluff,  Oct.  29,  was  expected  to  advance  to  an  en 
gagement  with  the  enemy,  Mr.  Wilson  offered  to  share 
the  danger ;  but,  as  circumstances  changed,  his  personal 
presence  was  not  demanded. 

This  regiment,  and  especially  the  third  battery  under 
the  command  of  the  able  and  heroic  Augustus  P.  Martin, 
performed  effective  service  in  many  \varm  engagements 
during  the  Rebellion.  "  The  valuable  and  efficient  service 

o 

you  have  rendered  your  country,"  said  Gen.  Charles 
Griffin  in  a  letter  to  the  commander  of  the  regiment  at  the 
expiration  of  its  term  of  service  in  October,  1864,  "  during 
the  past  three  years  of  its  eventful  history,  is  deserving  of 
its  gratitude  and  praise." 

Mr.  Wilson  always  took  the  liveliest  interest  in  thi? 
regiment,  and  provided  for  the  intellectual  and  moral  ad 
vancement,  as  well  as  for  the  personal  comforts,  of  th* 
men  ;  for  he  believed  that  "  bayonets  which  think  figh» 
best."  The  manner  in  which  its  officers  and  men  regardeJ 
him  may  be  seen  from  the  following  letter,  dated  — 


THE  TWENTY-SECOND  EEGIMENT.  311 

HALL'S  HILL,  VA.,  Oct.  21,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  know  not  what  I  am  going  to 
write  :  but  I  know  what  is  in  my  heart ;  and  that  is,  a 
deep  respect  and  affection  for  yourself. 

My  father  died  more  than  four  years  since  ;  and  I  have 
not  met,  until  I  knew  you,  one  whom  I  could  look  up  to 
with  that  mingled  respect  and  affection  which  is  due  to  a 
father.  You  have  chidden  only  when  it  was  for  our  good, 
and  have  exhibited  a  kindness  and  benevolence  of  heart 
which  no  man  shall  ever  dare  to  deny  to  you  before  me. 

Be  assured,  sir,  that  I  fully  appreciate  your  acts  of  kind 
ness  to  me ;  and  they  have  been  many,  —  so  many,  indeed, 
that  I  have  come  slowly  to  the  conclusion  that  a  man 
may,  even  in  these  days,  occupy  a  high  position  without 
abandoning  his  good  qualities.  May  God  prosper  you  in 
your  labors  for  our  beloved  country  !  I  tremble  when  I 
think  what  power  is  in  your  hands  to  do  our  country  good 
or  evil,  and  only  pray  that  you  may  never  be  swerved 
from  that  bright  pathway  along  which  you  are  now 
journeying.  WM.  S.  TILTON. 

On  resigning  his  position  as  colonel  of  the  Twenty- 
second  Regiment,  Mr.  Wilson,  by  the  pressing  invitation 
of  the  secretary  of  war,  took  position  for  a  brief  period 
as  an  aide-de-camp  on  Gen.  McClellan's  staff,  in  order  that 
he  might,  by  practical  observation  of  the  condition  of  the 
army,  increase  its  power  and  efficiency  by  his  labors  in  the 
legislative  hall.  The  organization  of  fresh  forces  on  so 
vast  a  scale  demanded  practical  knowledge  of  the  art  of 
war ;  and  the  best  place  to  obtain  it  was  at  head-quarters 
on  the  field.  But  senatorial  duties  soon  compelled  him  to 
return  to  Washington  ;  and,  in  the  letter  accepting  his 
resignation  as  an  aide-de-camp,  Gen.  Williams  said,  "  The 


312  LIFE  OF.  HENRY  WILSON. 

reasons  assigned  in  your  letter  (Jan.  9)  are  such,  that 
the  general  is  not  permitted  any  other  course  than  that  of 
directing  the  acceptance  of  your  resignation.  He  wishes 
me  to  add  that  it  is  with  regret  that  he  sees  the  termina 
tion  of  the  pleasant  official  relations  which  have  existed 
between  you  and  himself,  and  that  he  yields  with  reluc 
tance  to  the  necessity  created  by  the  pressure  upon  you  of 
other  and  more  important  public  duties." 

He  cheerfully  bore  his  own  expenses  while  raising  his 
regiment,  and  received  no  pay  whatever  for  his  services  as 
colonel  or  as  Gen.  McClellan's  aide-de-camp. 

To  the  infamous  charge  of  W.  H.  Russell  of  "  The  Lon 
don  Times,"  that  Senator  Wilson  was  interested  in  large 
shoe  contracts,  and  had  taken  better  care  of  himself  and 
his  fortunes  than  of  a  suffering  nation,  he  made  the  follow 
ing  distinct  and  unequivocal  reply  :  — 


,  Nov.  9,  1861. 
«  To  the  Editor  of  '  THE  BOSTON  JOURNAL  :  '  — 

"  I  ask  you,  and  other  conductors  of  public  journals  m 
Massachusetts  willing  to  do  me  a  personal  favor,  to  pub 
lish  this  explicit  denial  of  the  truthfulness  of  the  story 
some  person  or  persons  have  invented  and  put  in  circula 
tion,  that  I  have  a  government  contract  for  a  million 
pairs  of  shoes,  by  which  I  am  to  realize  the  sum  of  a 
quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars.  This  story,  in  all  its  parts 
and  in  every  form,  is  utterly  false  ;  and  the  person  or 
persons  originating  it  knew  it  to  be  a  false  and  wicked 
slander.  I  have  no  contract,  I  have  had  no  contract,  with 
the  government,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  for  shoes,  or 
for  any  thing  else  ;  nor  have  I  now,  nor  have  I  had,  any 
interest  in  any  contract  of  any  person  whatever  with  the 
government.  I  not  only  have  no  contract  with  the 


HIS  PATRIOTISM.  313 

government,  nor  interest  in  the  contracts  of  others,  but 
no  man  now  has,  nor  has  had,  any  contract  with  the  gov 
ernment  through  any  agency  or  influence  of  mine.  The 
government,  since  the  4th  of  March,  has  made  no  contract 
with  any  man,  for  any  purpose  whatever,  through  any 
agency  or  influence  of  mine  ;  and  it  never  will  make  con 
tracts  through  any  agency  or  influence  of  mine.  As  a 
senator  of  Massachusetts,  mindful  of  her  interests,  I  have 
sometimes  reminded  the  department  of  the  manufacturing 
and  mechanical  skill  of  her  people ;  of  their  losses  by  this 
wicked  Rebellion  ;  of  their  readiness  to  furnish  men  and 
money  to  sustain  the  national  cause ;  of  their  capacity  to 
furnish  the  army,  at  the  lowest  rates,  needed  articles  :  and 
I  have  expressed  the  hope  that  the  agents  of  the  govern 
ment,  in  their  purchases,  would  not  forget  the  people  of 
my  State.  This  much  I  have  said  ;  this  much  I  felt  I  had 
a  right  to  say ;  and  this  much  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  say. 
But  to  all  men,  who  have  asked  me  by  word  or  letter  to 
aid  them  in  obtaining  contracts  of  the  government,  I  have 
said  that  my  sense  of  propriety  would  not  permit  me  to 
have  any  thing  to  do  with  contracts  ;  that  I  could  not,  in 
any  way,  aid  in  procuring  contracts ;  that  no  man  ever 
had,  or  ever  would  have,  contracts  through  my  agency  or 
influence.  This  has  been,  now  is,  and  will  ever  be,  my 
position." 

While  many  men  in  power  most  shamefully  enriched 
themselves  and  families  by  "  the  spoils  of  war,"  the  record 
of  Henry  Wilson  is  absolutely  clean  and  clear.  "  I  am 
not  worth  enough,"  said  he  in  one  of  his  addresses,  "  to 
buy  a  pine  coffin  for  my  burial."  Immaculate  as  an  old 
Roman  patriot,  he  stands  unscathed  by  any  charge  of 
bribery,  venality,  or  corruption. 


314  LIFE  OF  HEN*RY  WILSON. 

Eleven  States  were  now  in  open  rebellion  against  the 
government.  A  Southern  confederacy  had  been  formed, 
with  Jefferson  Davis  at  the  head  ;  many  forts  and  arsenals 
had  been  seized,  and  a  vast  confederate  army  was  in  the 
field.  Old  landmarks  had  been  broken  down,  and  a  new 
order  of  things  had  begun.  Four  million  slaves  were 
panting  to  be  free.  The  capital  of  the  nation  had  become 
a  camping-ground,  and  open  war  was  the  order  of  the  day. 

It  was  forced  upon  the  government :  the  South  must 
take  the  consequences.  The  president  had,  on  the  six 
teenth  day  of  August,  declared  a  state  of  insurrection ; 
and  the  leading  questions  were,  "  How  shall  the  Union  be 
preserved  ? "  "  How  increase  and  officer,  and  impart 
efficiency  to,  the  army  ?  "  "  What  shall  be  done  with 
slaves  and  rebel  property  ? "  "  How,  at  the  least  ex 
pense  of  blood,  crush  the  Rebellion  ?  " 

Rapid,  efficient,  and  decisive  legislation  was  demanded 
for  the  exigency ;  and  it  was  fortunate  for  the  country  that 
strong  men  were  in  the  halls  of  Congress.  For  the  most 
part  they  were  true  reformers,  educated  in  the  school  of 
freedom,  and  prepared  for  the  tremendous  issue.  Among 
them  Henry  Wilson  stood  prominent.  He  had  studied 
America,  her  spirit  and  her  institutions ;  he  saw  distinctly 
where  the  merit  of  the  question  lay  ;  and,  though  he 
shuddered  at  the  sacrifice,  he  felt  certain  of  the  ultimate 
result. 

Entering  with  indomitable  industry  upon  business  at 
the  second  session  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  he 
introduced,  and  carried  to  enactment,  many  bills  and 
resolutions  which  had  an  immediate  bearing  on  the  effi 
ciency  of  the  army  and  the  government.  Among  the 
more  important  measures  was  a  bill  providing  for  the  ap 
pointment  of  persons  to  procure  from  volunteers  their 


HIS  MEASURES  DT  CONGKESS.  315 

respective  allotments  of  pay  for  their  families,  which  was 
enacted  Dec.  24,  1861 ;  a  bill  regulating  courts-martial  in 
the  army ;  "a  bill  to  provide  for  the  better  organization 
of  the  signal  department  of  the  army,"  approved  on  the 
twenty  -  second  day  of  February,  1862 ;  a  bill  for  the 
"  appointment  of  sutlers  in  the  volunteer  service  ;  "  a  bill 
"  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  medical  department  of 
the  army  ;  "  a  bill  to  facilitate  the  discharge  of  enlisted 
men  for  physical  disability  ;  a  joint  resolution  providing  for 
"  the  presentation  of  medals  of  honor  to  the  enlisted  men 
of  the  army  and  volunteer  forces  who  may  distinguish 
themselves  in  battle  ; "  a  bill,  introduced  on  the  eighth 
day  of  July,  u  to  amend  the  act  calling  forth  the  militia  to 
execute  the  laws,  suppress  insurrections,  and  repel  inva 
sions,"  which  became  a  law  on  the  17th  of  July,  1862. 

By  this  important  act  the  president  is  authorized  to 
receive  persons  of  African  descent  for  any  military  service 
for  which  they  are  competent ;  and  all  Africans  rendering 
such  service  shall  be  free.  This  act  authorized,  for  the 
first  time,  the  drafting  of  negroes,  and  their  regular  intro 
duction  as  soldiers  into  the  service  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Wilson  also,  on  the  23d  of  December,  introduced 
the  bill  into  the  Senate,  dismissing  from  the  service  offi 
cers  guilty  of  surrendering  fugitive  slaves  to  their  masters. 
After  much  discussion,  it  became  a  law  March  13,  1862. 

It  was  framed  to  protect  those  slaves,  who,  as  our  armies 
advanced  into  the  rebel  States,  fled  to  them  for  refuge, 
and  who  offered,  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Wilson,  "  to  work 
and  fight  for  the  flag  whose  stars  for  the  first  time  gleamed 
upon  their  vision  with  the  radiance  of  liberty." 

On  resigning  his  office  as  secretary  of  war  during  this 
session,  Mr.  Cameron  addressed  to  him  the  following 
letter :  — 


816  LIFE  OF  HENHY  WILSON. 

WASHINGTON,  Jan.  27,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  No  man,  in  my  opinion,  in  the  whole 
country,  has  done  more  to  aid  the  war  department  is 
preparing  the  mighty  army  now  under  arms*  than  your 
self;  and,  before  leaving  this  city,  I  think  it  my  duty  tc 
offer  to  you  my  sincere  thanks  as  its  late  head. 

As  chairman  of  the  Military  Committee  of  the  Senate, 
your  services  were  invaluable.  At  the  first  call  for  troops, 
you  came  here ;  and  up  to  the  meeting  of  Congress,  a 
period  of  more  than  six  months,  your  labors  were  inces 
sant.  Sometimes  in  encouraging  the  administration  by 
assurances  of  support  from  Congress,  by  encouraging 
volunteering  in  your  own  State,  by  raising  a  regiment 
yourself  when  other  men  began  to  fear  that  compulsory 
drafts  might  be  necessary,  and  in  the  Senate  by  preparing 
the  bills,  and  assisting  to  get  the  necessary  appropria 
tions,  for  organizing,  clothing,  arming,  and  supplying  the 
army,  you  have  been  constantly  and  profitably  employed 
in  the  great  cause  of  putting  down  the  unnatural  Re 
bellion. 

For  the  many  personal  favors  you  have  done  me  since 
the  beginning  of  this  struggle  I  shall  ever  be  grateful. 
Your  friend  truly, 

SIMON  CAMERON. 
Hon.  HENRY  WILSON. 

On  the  16th  of  December,  1861,  he  introduced  a  bill 
"  for  the  release  of  certain  persons  held  to  service  or  labor 
[that  is,  for  the  abolition  of  slavery]  in  the  District  of 
Columbia."  "  If  it  shall  become  a  law  of  the  land,"  said 
Mr.  Wilson,  "  it  will  blot  out  slavery  forever  from  the 
national  capital,  transform  three  thousand  personal  chattels 
into  freemon,  obliterate  oppressive,  odious,  and  hateful  laws 


LETTER  FROM  MR.   TAPPAN.  317 

and  ordinances  which  press  with  merciless  force  upon  per 
sons,  bond  or  free,  of  African  descent,  and  relieve  the  na 
tion  from  the  responsibilities  now  pressing  upon  it.  An 
act  of  beneficence  like  this  will  be  hailed  and  applauded 
by  the  nations,  sanctified  by  justice,  humanity,  and  religion, 
by  the  approving  voice  of  conscience,  and  by  the  blessing 
of  Him  who  bids  us  "  break  every  yoke,  undo  the  heavy 
burden,  and  let  the  oppressed  go  free." 

This  bill  met  with  bitter  opposition  from  the  secession 
element  in  Congress,  but  was  finally  passed ;  and  the 
president  gave  it  his  approval  on  the  sixteenth  day  of  April, 
1862.  The  freedmen  then  assembled  in  their  churches,  and 
offered  thanks  to  God  for  their  deliverance. 

In  the  enactment  of  this  law  Mr.  Wilson  saw  the 
realization  of  those  hopes  which  he  had  expressed  in  his 
first  public  speech,  made  a  full  quarter  of  a  century  before, 
in  StrafFord  (N.  H.)  Academy.  He  surely  had  been 
led  in  a  way  he  knew  not  to  the  accomplishment  of  a 
part  in  rending  the  chain  of  the  bondman,  for  which  his 
name  will  ever  be  held  by  the  friends  of  freedom  in  grate 
ful  remembrance. 

The  following  letters  from  two  eminent  philanthropists 
express  the  general  sentiment  of  the  North  in  respect  to 
Mr.  Wilson's  course :  — 

NEW  YORK,  April  28,  1862. 
Hon.  HENRY  WILSON,  Senator  in  Congress  from  Massachusetts. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  I  have  to  day  read  your  speech  of  March 
27,  "  On  the  Bill  to  abolish  Slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,"  for  the  second  time,  and  must  drop  you  a  line 
to  say  that  it  deserves  to  be  written  in  letters  of  gold,  and 
be  put  into  the  hands  of  every  citizen  of  the  United  States. 
To  you,  especially,  is  the  country  indebted  for  the  passage 
of  this  bill.  May  the  country  ever  be  grateful  I  and  may 

27* 


318  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

the  blessing  of  the  God  of  the  oppressed  rest  upon  you ! 
As  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  son  of  a  Massachu 
setts  mechanic,  I  feel  thankful  that  one  of  her  senators  has, 
under  the  divine  blessing,  accomplished  such  a  humane 
deed. 

Although  it  will  at  all  times  give  me  pleasure  to  hear 
from  you,  I  do  not  expect,  that,  amidst  your  arduous  labors, 
you  can  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  many  letters 
addressed  to  you.  My  object  is  not  now,  more  than  here 
tofore,  to  draw  from  you  a  response,  but  to  assure  you  of 
the  vei?y  grateful  sense  I  have  of  your  successful  services 
in  the  case  to  which  I  have  alluded,  and  of  the  eminent 
services  rendered  to  your  country  throughout  your  whole 
senatorial  career. 

Respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

LEWIS  TAPPAN. 

THE  JAY  HOMESTEAD,  KATOUCH, 

N.Y.,  April  17,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  GEN.  WILSON,  —  I  must  thank  you,  and  con 
gratulate  you  that  our  National  Government  sits,  at  last,  in  a 
free  capital.  Your  part  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  great 
triumph  of  national  justice  and  national  dignity  will  be 
long  remembered  by  a  grateful  people  ;  and,  if  you  had  not 
done  so  much  else  for  the  country,  you  might  safely  rest 
your  historic  fame  on  that  single  act  and  your  sturdy  efforts 
to  crown  it  with  success. 

For  myself,  I  can  hardly  recall  without  emotion  my 
boyish  efforts  to  arouse  attention  to  the  atrocity  of  slavery 
in  Washington,  commenced  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  and 
those  of  my  father,  which  I  find,  from  one  of  his  petitions, 
commenced  in  1826,  as  I  read  the  record  of  the  vote  in 
the  House,  and  the  president's  message,  and  thank  God  that 


LETTER  FEOM  MB.  JAY.  319 

the  work  of  abolition  has  begun,  and  the  first  great  step 
boldly  taken  towards  the  position  of  a  free  republic. 

I  trust  the  good  work  will  be  pushed  speedily.  Slavery 
is  doomed  ;  and  it  is  worse  than  useless  to  prolong  the  agony 
of  dissolution. 

Always  faithfully  yours, 

JOHN  JAY. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE   REBELLION. SENATORIAL  LABORS. SPEECH  IS 

PHILADELPHIA,    1863. DEATH    OF    SLAVERY   THE 

LIFE   OF   THE   NATION. HIS   PERSISTENT 

EFFORTS   TO   CARRY   ON   THE   WAR. 


The  Conflicting  Powers.  —  The  Army  and  Congress.  —  Position  of  Mr.  Wilson. 

—  Bill  for  Sutlers.  —  Signal  Service.  — Pay  to  Officers.  —  Medical  Depart- 
ment.  —  Volunteers.  —  Seniority  of  Commanders.  —  Storekeepers.  —  District 
of  Columbia.  —  Medals.  — Pay  in  Advance.  —  Abolition  in  District  of  Co 
lumbia.  —  The  Confederates.  —  Militia  Bill.  —  President's  Proclamation.  — 
Rosecrans.  —  Bureau  of    Emancipation. — Enrolment    Bill.  —  Remarks. — 
Colored  Youth.  —  Wounded  Soldiers.  —  Corps  of  Engineers.  —  Letter  of  Dr. 
Silas  Reed.  —  Fall  of  Vicksburg.  —  Conference  with  the  Cabinet.  —  Battle 
of  Gettysburg.  —  Gen.  Grant.  —  Address  before  the  Antislavery  Society.  — 
Thanks  to  the  Army.  —  Bounties.  —  Ambulances.  —  Colored  Soldiers  Free. 

—  Thirteenth  Amendment.  —  Speech.  —  Appropriation   Bill.  — Wives   and 
Children  of  Colored  Soldiers  Free.  —  Fourth  of  July  at  Washington.  —  Gen. 
Grant.  —  "  New-Bedford  Mercury."  —  A  Letter. 

AT  the  commencement  of  the  year  1862  the  Union 
was  coming  slowly  and  steadily  up  to  bear  the  tre 
mendous  strain  of  the  Rebellion ;  and  the  moral  grandeur 
of  the  scene  has  never  been  surpassed  in  any  crisis  of  a 
distracted  nation.  On  the  one  hand  were  dissolution  and 
anarchy ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  Constitution  and  the  lib 
eration  of  the  slave.  The  destinies  of  unborn  millions 
were  in  the  conflict.  Will  the  government  meet  the  exi 
gency  ?  Yes ;  for,  while  our  loyal  soldiers  were  bravely 

820 


SENATOEIAL  LABOBS.  321 

gathering  to  roll  back  the  tide  of  war  upon  the  field,  our 
loyal  Congress-men  were  as  bravely  toiling  to  sustain  them, 
and  to  break  the  chains  of  servitude  in  the  halls  of  legisla 
tion.  Here,  indeed,  the  battles  are  really  fought.  The 
army  is  but  an  exponent  of  power :  the  power  itself  is  in 
the  principles  that  move  the  army  ;  and  these  are  settled  by 
the  action  of  the  people's  representatives.  As  one  of  those 
noble  men  whose  doings  will  render  the  Thirty-seventh 
and  Thirty-eighth  Congresses  ever  memorable,  Mr.  Wilson 
exhibited  clear-sightedness  which  no  intricacies  could  baf 
fle,  hope  which  no  disasters  could  repress,  courage  which 
no  danger  could  appall,  and  patriotism  which  no  bribe  could 
bend. 

In  the  full  confidence  of  the  government,  he  gave  his 
whole  energies  of  heart  and  hand  to  its  support,  and  still 
brought  forward  measure  after  measure  for  the  prosecu 
tion  of  the  war,  and  for  the  overthrow  of  a  system,  which, 
recognizing  the  right  of  property  in  man,  had  caused  the 
war.  But  little  more  than  a  bare  enumeration  of  the  meas 
ures  which  he  introduced  can  here  be  given. 

On  the  2d  of  January,  1862,  he  presented  the  bill  ap 
pointing  sutlers  and  defining  their  duties  in  the  volunteer 
service  ;  which,  after  several  amendments,  became  a  law  on 
the  19th  of  the  following  March.  On  the  9th  of  January 
he  introduced  a  bill  for  the  better  organization  of  the  sig 
nal  department  of  the  army,  which  was  approved  on  the 
22d  day  of  February ;  and  on  the  28th  of  January  a  bill 
to  define  the  pay  and  emoluments  of  certain  officers  of  the 
army,  and  for  other  purposes,  which,  after  a  long  discus 
sion,  became  a  law  on  the  17th  of  July,  1862.  On  the 
7th  of  February  he  brought  forward  a  bill  to  increase  the 
efficiency  of  the  medical  department  of  the  army,  which, 
after  several  amendments,  became  a  law  on  the  sixteenth 


322  LIFE  OF   HENKY  WILSON. 

day  of  April,  1862.  A  joint  resolution  for  the  payment  of 
the  moneys  of  any  State  to  its  volunteers  was  introduced 
by  him  on  the  llth  of  March,  and  became  a  law  on  the 
nineteenth  day  of  April  following  ;  and  also  another,  on  the 
14th  of  March,  assigning  command  in  the  same  field  or 
department  to  officers  of  the  same  grade  without  regard  to 
seniority,  which  was  enacted  on  the  4th  of  April,  1862. 
On  the  7th  of  May  his  bill  for  the  appointment  of  medical 
storekeepers  was  brought  forward,  and  approved  by  the 
president  on  the  20th  of  the  same  month.  Ever  anxious 
for  the  improvement  of  the  colored  people  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  Mr.  Wilson,  on  the  8th  of  May,  moved,  as 
an  amendment  to  Mr.  Grimes's  educational  bill,  that  all 
persons  of  color  in  that  District  shall  be  amenable  to  the 
same  laws,  and  tried  in  the  same  manner,  as  the  free  white 
people,  which  received  the  approval  of  the  president  on  the 
eleventh  day  of  July,  1862  ;  and  thus  the  "  black  code  "  was 
abolished  forever  in  the  national  capital.  Ever  mindful 
of  the  services  of  the  soldier,  he  reported,  on  the  thirteenth 
day  of  May,  a  joint  resolution  for  the  preparation  of  two 
thousand  medals  of  honor,  "  with  suitable  devices,  to  be 
presented  to  such  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates  as 
should  distinguish  themselves  by  gallantry  in  action  and 
other  soldier-like  qualities ; "  and  this  became  a  law  on  the 
twelfth  day  of  July,  1862.  For  the  further  encouragement 
of  enlistments,  he  introduced  a  joint  resolution  on  the  4th 
of  June  (enacted  on  the  21st  of  the  same  month),  that  the 
soldier  who  enlisted  might  receive  one  month's  wages  in 
advance ;  and  on  the  12th  of  June  he  brought  forward  an 
additional  bill  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  which,  after  being  amended,  received  the  signa 
ture  of  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  twelfth  day  of  July,  1862. 
The  activity  of  the  rebels  in  Tennessee,  the  retreat  of 


SENATORIAL  LABOES.  323 

Gen.  Banks  upon  the  Potomac,  and  the  indecisive  battles  of 
Gen.  McClellan  in  front  of  Richmond,  all  conspired  to  dis 
hearten  loyal  men,  and  to  fill  the  government  with  gloomy 
apprehensions.  Mr.  Wilson  urged  upon  the  Senate 
prompt  and  decided  action.  Of  the  confederates  he  said, 
"  They  have  appealed  to  their  people,  —  to  their  passions, 
to  their  prejudices,  to  their  hate  ;  they  have  organized  their 
people ;  they  have  issued  their  conscriptions,  using  every 
man  who  could  do  any  thing,  — 110  matter  how  halt  or 
maimed  he  might  be,  if  he  could  strike  a  blow  ;  they  have 
carried  on  their  military  operations  with  great  administra 
tion  and  military  ability.  We  are  in  one  of  the  darkest 
periods  of  the  contest ;  and  we  had  better  look  our  position 
in  the  face,  meet  the  responsibilities  of  the  hour,  rise  to  the 
demands  of  the  occasion,  pour  out  our  money,  summon 
our  men  to  the  field,  go  ourselves  if  we  can  do  any  good, 
and  overthrow  this  confederate  power,  that  feels  to-day, 
over  the  recent  magnificent  triumphs,  that  it  has  already 
achieved  its  independence.  Bold  and  decisive  action  alone 
in  the  cabinet  and  in  the  field  can  retrieve  our  adverse 
fortunes,  and  carry  our  country  triumphantly  through  the 
perils  that  threaten  to  dismember  the  republic." 

Actuated  by  such  sentiments,  he  introduced  on  the 
twelfth  day  of  July  his  effective  bill  into  the  Senate, 
authorizing  the  president  to  call  forth  the  militia  of  the 
country  ;  enrolling  all  able-bodied  men  between  the  ages 
of  eighteen  and  forty-five  years;  to  accept  a  hundred 
thousand  volunteers  as  infantry  for  nine  months,  and  vol 
unteers  for  twelve  months,  with  fifty  dollars  bounty  ;  to 
fill  up  the  old  regiments:  also  to  establish  army  corps, 
and  to  receive  into  the  army  persons  of  African  descent 
to  perform  any  service  for  which  they  may  be  competent ; 
and  providing  that  persons  performing  such  service  shall 


324  LIFE  OF  HENKY  WILSON. 

be  forever  free,  and  also  the  mothers,  wives,  and  children 
of  such  persons  as  may  be  owing  service  to  any  men 
engaged  in  the  Rebellion.  This  important  measure,  after 
strenuous  opposition  by  Messrs.  Davis  of  Kentucky,  Sauls- 
bury,  Powell,  and  others,  was  enacted  July  17, 1862,  and 
was  another  heavy  blow  to  that  institution  which  had 
brought  the  country  into  such  a  bloody  contest. 

But  why  stop  with  the  emancipation  of  the  colored  sol 
diers  in  the  army  ?  Are  not  three  millions  longing  to  be 
free  ?  Will  not  the  strength  of  the  confederates  be  les 
sened  by  their  manumission  ?  Will  not  such  an  act  serve 
to  harmonize  the  feelings  of  the  North?  Has  not  the 
South,  by  its  revolt,  invited  it  ?  The  president  saw  the 
situation,  and  the  readiness  of  Congress  and  the  army  to 
sustain  him,  and  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1863,  sent 
forth  his  glorious  proclamation,  which  declared  "  forever 
free  "  the  slaves  in  the  Confederate  States.  Of  the  rep 
resentatives  at  Washington,  none  hailed  that  grand 
announcement  with  more  joy  than  Henry  Wilson :  none 
had  labored  for  it  more  persistently  ;  none  saw  with 
clearer  vision  the  encouraging  effect  it  would  produce  upon 
the  spirit  of  the  people,  and  the  aid  which  it  would  render 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  year  (1863)  the  hopes 
of  the  Union  men  were  brightened  by  the  victory  of 
Gen.  Rosecrans  over  the  rebel  forces  under  Gen.  Bragg 
at  Murfreesborough,  Tenn. ;  and  on  the  8th  of  January 
Mr.  Wilson  introduced  a  resolution  tendering  thanks  to 
the  general  and  his  army  for  their  distinguished  gal 
lantry  in  that  action,  and  it  received  the  signature  of  the 
president  on  the  third  day  of  the  following  March.  On 
the  twelfth  day  of  January  he  presented  in  the  Senate 
a  memorial  of  the  Emancipation  league  of  his  State  for 


SENATORIAL  LABORS.  325 

a  bureau  of  emancipation,  and  entered  into  the  discus 
sions  upon  this  philanthropic  measure,  which  was  to 
aid,  protect,  and  elevate  "  the  children  of  the  govern 
ment." 

To  bring  up  the  power  of  the  republic  to  meet  the 
exigencies  of  the  war,  Mr.  Wilson,  on  the  ninth  day  of 
February,  introduced  -  his  great  bill  for  enrolling  and  call 
ing  out  the  national  forces,  and  for  other  purposes.  It 
consisted  of  thirty-six  sections,  the  first  of  which  declared 
that  "  all  able-bodied  male  citizens  in  the  United  States 
(with  certain  exceptions)  between  the  ages  of  eighteen 
and  forty-five  shall  constitute  the  national  forces,  and  be 
liable  to  military  duty  at  the  call  of  the  president."  By 
the  eighteenth  section,  a  bounty  of  fifty  dollars  was  given 
to  present  volunteers  who  re-enlist  for  one  year.  This 
important  measure  was  framed  with  great  administrative 
ability  ;  and,  in  defence  of  it,  Mr.  Wilson  said,  "  I  am 
confident  the  enactment  of  this  bill,  embodying  so  many 
provisions  required  by  the  exigencies  of  the  public  service, 
will  weapon  the  hands  of  the  nation,  fire  the  drooping 
hearts  of  the  people,  thrill  the  wasting  ranks  of  our  legions 
in  the  field,  carry  dismay  into  the  councils  of  treason,  and 
give  assurance  to  the  nations  that  the  American  people 
have  the  sublime  virtue  of  heroic  constancy  and  endurance 
that  will  assure  the  unity  and  indivisibility  of  the  republic 
of  the  United  States.  We  have  endeavored  to  frame  this 
bill  so  as  to  bear  as  lightly  as  possible  upon  the  toiling 
masses,  and  to  put  the  burdens,  so  far  as  we  could  do  so, 
equally  upon  the  more  favored  sons  of  men." 

On  a  motion  of  Mr.  Cowan  of  Pennsylvania  to  exempt 
members  of  Congress  from  the  law,  he  said,  "  Its  adoption 
would  weaken  the  moral  force  of  the  law.  He  wanted  every 


326  UFB  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

one  to  feel  that  this  measure  was  a  necessity  forced  upon 
us  by  the  needs  of  the  country ;  that  to  be  drafted  to  carry 
this  country  through  the  impending  struggle  was  the  most 
honorable  thing  that  can  fall  upon  an  American  citizen  : " 
and  the  motion  was  not  carried.  After  several  amend 
ments,  this  great  measure  was  approved  by  the  president 
on  the  third  day  of  March ;  and  the  army  was  thus 
brought  into  order  for  the  reception  of  the  confederate 
forces  on  the  field  of  Gettysburg  in  July  following. 

On  the  17th  of  February  he  brought  forward  the  bill  to 
incorporate  "  the  institution  for  the  education  of  the  colored 
youth  "  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  which  was  approved 
by  the  president  on  the  3d  of  March  ;  and  on  the  10th  of 
February  a  bill  to  increase  the  number  of  major  and 
brigadier  generals  in  the  army,  which  became  a  law  on  the 
second  day  of  March.  His  resolution  "  to  facilitate  the 
payment  of  sick  and  wounded  soldiers,"  and  also  his  bill  to 
promote  the  efficiency  of  the  corps  of  engineers  and  of 
the  ordnance  department,  and  for  other  purposes,  were 
approved  by  the  president  on  the  third  day  of  March, 
1863.- 

At  this  period,  Mr.  Wilson,  following  up  the  proclamation 
of  the  president,  entered  warmly  into  the  senatorial  de 
bates  on  the  question  of  rendering  aid  to  Missouri  and 
other  semi-loyal  States  for  the  liberation  of  their  slaves. 
In  response  to  Mr.  Henderson  of  Missouri,  he  said,  "  Let 
us  stamp  upon  her  now  war-desolated  fields  the  words, 
4  Immediate  emancipation  ;  *  and  these  blighted  fields  will 
bloom  again,  and  law  and  order  and  peace  again  will  bless 
the  dwellings  of  her  people." 

The  following  letter  from  a  prominent  citizen  of  that 
State  will  indicate  how  his  services  were  there  regarded:  — 


LETTER  FROM  DR.   REEET.  327 

UNITED-STATES  GENERAL  HOSPITAL, 

JEFFERSON  BARRACKS,  Mo.,  Feb.  24,  1863. 
Hon.  H.  WILSON,  U.  S.  Senate. 

Sir,  —  Excuse  the  liberty  I  take  in  expressing  my  grati 
fication  at  the  manner  in  which  you  treat  the  traitors  in 
the  Senate. 

I  have  also  to  thank  you  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart 
for  the  interest  and  zeal  you  have  manifested  in  securing 
compensated  emancipation  for  Missouri. 

With  this  measure  successful,  this  State,  in  a  year  or 
two,  might  almost  thank  the  rebels  for  their  efforts  to  ruin 
us  ;  but  without  it  we  must  sink  almost  as  low  as  Vir 
ginia  in  financial  woe  and  general  desolation. 

All  good  men  in  Missouri  pray  daily  that  Congress  may 
see  the  wisdom  of  perfecting  this  aid  to  loyal  slave-owners 
of  the  State.  It  is  not  material,  perhaps,  what  sum  Con 
gress  appropriates,  if  the  maximum  be  three  hundred  dol 
lars  for  the  best  slaves,  and  graduated  in  proportion  for 
females,  children,  and  aged  persons. 

I  feel  the  utmost  confidence  that  it  will  not  take  ten 
million  dollars  to  pay  all  loyal  owners,  if  three  hundred  dol 
lars  is  the  highest  price  to  be  paid,  and  a  proportionate 
price  for  the  young,  aged,  and  all  other  classes.  I  know 
of  no  slave  in  Missouri  now  that  would  command  at  private 
sale  three  hundred  dollars,  unless  the  purchaser  were  misled 
by  an  impression  that  he  might  obtain  more  by  virtue  of 
the  proposed  act  of  Congress. 

Emancipation  in  Missouri  would  soon  make  it  one  of  the 
greatest  States  in  the  Union,  and  the  disinthralment  of  her 
antislavery  population  would  enable  us  to  show  the  traitors 
in  the  old  free  States  whether  New  England  is  ever  to  be 
severed  from  the  States  of  the  West.  Congress  is  on  the 
right  war-path  this  winter;  and  Grod  be  praised  for  the 


328  LIFE  OF  HENRY   WILSON. 

bright  prospect  of  soon  crushing  out  the  life  of  the  Rebel 
lion. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  very  truly, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

SILAS  REED,  M.D. 

During  the  recess  of  Congress,  Mr.  Wilson  labored  with 
ceaseless  activity  to  sustain  the  administration  in  the  prose 
cution  of  the  war.  Moving  from  point  to  point,  he  was 
now  assisting  the  Sanitary  Commission,  now  writing  letters 
to  the  soldiers,  now  examining  the  claims  of  rival  officers 
to  promotion,  now  suggesting  more  vigorous  measures  to 
the  cabinet,  now  urging  moneyed  men  to  aid  the  govern 
ment,  and  now  addressing  vast  audiences  in  support  of 
the  Union  cause.  In  the  great  rejoicings  at  Washington, 
July  7,  on  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg,  he  participated, 
and  addressed  a  vast  multitude  in  front  of  the  presiden 
tial  mansion.  On  the  same  day,  with  Senators  Fessenden 
and  Morrill,  he  had  a  conference  with  the  cabinet,  which 
resulted  in  the  ordering  of  five  vessels  to  protect  the  sea 
board  from  Nantucket  to  the  British  Provinces. 

Mr.  Wilson  also  shared  with  the  administration  in  the 
profound  anxiety  for  the  issue  of  the  bloody  conflict  at 
Gettysburg  (July  1,  2,  and  3),  and  put  forth  his  best 
efforts  to  assuage  the  sufferings  of  wounded  soldiers. 

The  delay  of  Gen.  Meade  in  following  up  his  victory 
led  the  government  soon  to  turn  attention  to  the  vic 
torious  GRANT  as  the  man  to  lead  the  army  on  to  Rich 
mond  ;  and  Mr.  Wilson  urged  his  nomination  as  com 
mander. 

On  his  way  to  resume  his  seat  in  Congress  in  December, 
on  the  9th  of  July,  he  took  part  in  the  celebration  of  the 
thirtieth  anniversary  of  the  American  Antislavery  Society 


ADDRESS   AT  PHILADELPHIA.  329 

and  made  an  address  remarkable  for  its  earnestness  and 
vigor.  Contrasting  the  antislavery  cause  at  the  institu 
tion  of  the  society  with  what  it  was  in  the  closing  month 
of  1863,  he  eloquently  said,  — 

"  Then  a  few  unknown  and  nameless  men  were  its 
apostles  :  now  the  most  accomplished  intellects  in  America 
are  its  champions.  Then  a  few  proscribed  and  hunted 
followers  rallied  around  its  banners :  now  it  has  laid  its 
grasp  upon  the  conscience  of  the  nation,  and  millions  rally 
around  the  folds  of  its  flag.  Then  not  a  statesman  in 
America  accepted  its  doctrines,  or  advocated  its  measures : 
now  it  controls  more  than  twenty  States,  has  a  majority 
in  both  Houses  of  Congress,  and  the  chief  magistrate  of 
the  republic  decrees  the  emancipation  of  three  millions  of 
men.  (Applause.)  Then  every  free  State  was  against 
it:  now  West  Virginia,  Delaware,  Maryland,  and  Missouri 
pronounce  for  the  emancipation  of  their  bondmen.  Then 
the  public  press  covered  it  with  ridicule  and  contempt: 
now  the  most  powerful  journals  in  America  are  its  organs, 
scattering  its  truths  broadcast  over  all  the  land.  Then  the 
religious,  benevolent,  and  literary  institutions  of  the  land 
rebuked  its  doctrines,  and  proscribed  its  advocates :  now  it 
shapes,  moulds,  and  fashions  them  at  its  pleasure.  Then 
political  organizations  trampled  disdainfully  upon  it:  now 
it  looks  down  in  the  pride  of  conscious  power  upon  the 
wrecked  political  fragments  that  float  at  its  teet.  Then  it 
was  impotent  and  powerless :  now  it  holds  public  men  and 
political  organizations  in  the  hollow  of  its  hand.  (Ap 
plause.)  Then  the  public  voice  sneered  at  and  defied  it: 
now  it  is  master  of  America,  and  has  only  to  be  true  to 
itself  to  bury  slavery  so  deep  that  the  hand  of  no  return 
ing  despotism  can  reach  it.  (Great  applause.) 

"The  way  to  triumph,"  he  continued,  "  is  to  assume 
as* 


330  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

that  the  proclamation  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  emancipating 
three  million  three  hundred  thousand  slaves  in  the  ten 
rebel  States,  is  the  irrepealable  law  of  this  land  ;  that  this 
Christian  nation  is  pledged  to  every  slave,  to  the  country, 
to  the  world,  and  to  Almighty  God,  to  see  that  every 
one  of  these  bondmen  is  free  forever  and  forevermore. 
(Great  applause.)  Let  the  loyal  men  of  America  assume, 
as  the  eternal  law  of  the  land,  that  slavery  does  not  now 
exist  in  the  disloyal  States ;  that  every  black  man  there  is 
free ;  that  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  pledged 
the  physical  power  of  all  America  to  enforce  the  proclama 
tion  of  freedom ;  that  seven  hundred  thousand  loyal 
bayonets  bear  that  proclamation  upon  their  glittering 
points."  (Applause.) 

He  thus  referred  to  Gen.  Grant :  — 

"  Sir,  I  saw  the  other  day  a  letter  from  Gen.  Grant, 
who  has  fought  so  many  battles  for  the  republic,  and  won 
them  all  (enthusiastic  applause),  —  the  hero  who  hurled  his 
legions  up  the  mountains  before  Chattanooga,  and  fought  a 
battle  for  the  Union  above  the  clouds.  (Applause.)  The 
hero  of  Vicksburg  says,  '  I  have  never  been  an  anti- 
slavery  man  ;  but  I  try  to  judge  justly  of  what  I  see.  I 
made  up  my  mind  when  this  war  commenced  that  the 
North  and  South  could  only  live  together  in  peace  as  one 
nation,  and  they  could  only  be  one  nation  by  being  a  free 
nation.  (Applause.)  Slavery,  the  corner-stone  of  the 
so-called  confederacy,  is  knocked  out ;  and  it  will  take 
more  men  to  keep  black  men  slaves  than  to  put  down  the 
Rebellion.  Much  as  I  desire  peace,  I  am  opposed  to  any 
peace  until  this  question  of  slavery  is  forever  settled.' 
That  is  the  position  of  the  leading  general  of  our 
armies.  .  .  . 

"  T?he  crimes  of  two  centuries  have  brought  this  terrible 


SENATORIAL  LABORS.  381 

war  upon  us ;  but  if  this  generation,  upon  whom  God 
has  laid  his  chastisements,  will  yet  be  true  to  liberty 
and  humanity,  peace  will  return  again  to  bless  this 
land  now  rent  and  torn  by  civil  strife.  Then  we  shall 
heal  the  wounds  of  war,  enlighten  the  dark  intellect  of 
the  emancipated  bondman,  and  make  our  country  the 
model  republic,  to  which  the  Christian  world  shall  turn 
with  respect  and  admiration." 

"  The  speaker  retired,"  says  "  The  Chronicle,"  "  amid 
the  deafening  plaudits  of  the  audience." 

In  the  Senate,  on  the  14th  of  December,  Mr.  Wilson 
introduced  resolutions  expressing  the  thanks  of  Congress  to 
Gens.  Hooker,  Meade,  Howard,  and  Banks,  their  officers 
and  men,  for  gallantry  at  Gettysburg  and  Port'  Hudson ; 
which  received  the  signature  of  the  president.  He  also 
introduced  at  the  same  time  a  bill  "  to  increase  the  bounty 
to  volunteers,  and  the  pay  of  the  army  ;  "  and  also,  on  the 
23d  of  the  same  month,  the  bill  "  to  establish  a  uniform 
system  of  ambulances  in  the  United  States,"  which  was 
indorsed  by  eminent  generals,  commanders  in  the  army, 
and  became  a  law  on  the  llth  of -March,  1864. 

Among  the  numerous  measures  introduced  by  Mr. 
Wilson  into  Congress  in  1864,  we  may  cite  as  of  great 
importance  an  amendment  in  the  bill  enacted  on  the  24th 
of  February,  declaring  that  every  colored  soldier,  on  being 
mustered  into  the  service,  should,  not  by  the  act  of  his 
master,  but  by  the  authority  of  government,  be  made  for 
ever  free.  By  this  provision,  more  than  twenty  thousand 
slaves  in  Kentucky  alone  received  their  freedom. 

In  the  exciting  debates  on  the  Thirteenth  Amendment 
of  the  Constitution,  the  first  article  of  which  is,  "  Neither 
slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a  punishment 
for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  con- 


332  UFE  OF  HENBY  WILSON. 

victed,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any  place 
subject  to  their  jurisdiction,"  Mr.  Wilson  most  earnestly 
engaged.  His  speech  in  the  Senate  on  the  28th  of  Marcli 
has  in  it  the  ring  of  a  clarion.  In  some  respects,  it  is  a 
master-piece  of  eloquence.  Intensely  earnest,  fervid,  fear 
less,  it  grasps  the  question  with  Websterian  vigor,  arid 
strikes  the  fated  institution  with  gigantic  blows.  The 
speech,  as  circulated,  has  for  its  significant  title,  "  THE 
DEATH  OF  SLAVERY  is  THE  LIFE  OF  THE  NATION  ; "  and 
this  the  nation  now  believes.  It  closes  with  these  grandly- 
impressive  words :  — 

"  But,  sir,  the  crowning  act  in  this  series  of  acts  for  the 
restriction  and  extinction  of  slavery  in  America  is  this 
proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  prohibiting  the 
existence  of  slavery  forevermore  in  the  republic  of  the 
United  States.  If  this  amendment  shall  be  incorporated 
by  the  will  of  the  nation  into  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  it  will  obliterate  the  last  lingering  vestiges 
of  the  slave  system  —  its  chattelizing,  degrading,  and 
bloody  codes  ;  its  dark,  malignant,  barbarizing  spirit ;  all 
it  was  and  is ;  every  thing  connected  with  it  or  pertaining 
to  it —  from  the  face  of  the  nation  it  has  scarred  with  moral 
desolation,  from  the  bosom  of  the  country  it  has  reddened 
with  the  blood  and  strewn  with  the  graves  of  patriotism. 
The  incorporation  of  this  amendment  into  the  organic  law 
of  the  nation  will  make  impossible  forevermore  the  re 
appearing  of  the  discarded  slave  system,  and  the  returning 
of  the  despotism  of  the  slave-masters'  domination. 

"  Then,  sir,  when  this  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
shall  be  consummated,  the  shackle  will  fall  from  the  limbs 
of  the  harmless  bondmen,  and  the  lash  drop  from  the 
weary  hand  of  the  taskmaster.  Then  the  sharp  cry  of 
the  agonizing  hearts  of  severed  families  will  cease  to  vex 


HIS  EFFORTS  TO  CARRY  ON  THE  WAR.  333 

the  weary  ear  of  the  nation,  and  to  pierce  the  ear  of  Him 
whose  judgments  are  now  avenging  the  wrongs  of  cen 
turies.  Then  the  slave-mart,  pen,  and  auction-block, 
with  their  clanking  fetters  for  human  limbs,  will  disappear 
from  the  land  they  have  brutalized,  and  the  schoolhouse 
will  raise  to  enlighten  the  darkened  intellect  of  a  race 
imbruted  by  long  years  of  enforced  ignorance.  Then  the 
sacred  rights  of  human  nature,  the  hallowed  family  rela 
tions  of  husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child,  will  be  pro 
tected  by  the  guardian  spirit  of  that  law  which  makes 
sacred  alike  the  proud  homes  and  lowly  cabins  of  freedom. 
Then  the  scarred  earth,  blighted  by  the  sweat  and  tears 
of  bondage,  will  bloom  again  under  the  quickening  culture 
of  rewarded  toil.  Then  the  wronged  victim  of  the  slave 
system,  the  poor  white  man,  the  sand-hiller,  the  clay-eater, 
of  the  wasted  fields  of  Carolina,  impoverished,  debased, 
dishonored  by  the  system  that  makes  toil  a  badge  of  dis 
grace,  and  the  instruction  of  the  brain  and  soul  of  man  a 
crime,  will  lift  his  abashed  forehead  to  the  skies,  and  begin 
to  run  the  race  of  improvement,  progress,  and  elevation. 
Then  the  nation,  '  regenerated  and  disinthralled  by  the 
genius  of  universal  emancipation,'  will  run  the  career  of 
development,  power,  and  glory,  quickened,  animated,  and 
guided  by  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  democracy  that  '  pulls 
not  the  highest  down,  but  lifts  the  lowest  up.' 

"  Our  country  is  now  floating  on  the  stormy  waves  of 
civil  war.  Darkness  lowers,  and  tempests  threaten.  The 
waves  are  rising  and  foaming  and  breaking  around  us  and 
over  us  with  ingulfing  fury  ;  but,  amid  the  thick  gloom, 
the  star  of  duty  casts  its  clear  radiance  over  the  dark  and 
troubled  waters,  making  luminous  our  pathway.  Our 
duty  is.  as  plain  to  the  clear  vision  of  intelligent  patriotism 


334  LIFE  OF  HBNKY  WILSON. 

as  though  it  were  written  in  letters  of  light  on  the  bending 
arches  of  the  skies.  That  duty  is,  with  every  conception 
of  the  brain,  every  throb  of  the  heart,  every  aspiration  of 
the  soul,  by  thought,  by  word,  and  by  deed,  to  feel,  to 
think,  to  speak,  to  act,  so  as  to  obliterate  the  last  vestiges 
of  slavery  in  America,  subjugate  rebel  slave-masters  to  the 
authority  of  the  nation,  hold  up  the  weary  arm  of  our 
struggling  government,  crowd  with  heroic  manhood  the 
ranks  of  our  armies  that  are  bearing  the  destinies  of  the 
country  on  the  points  of  their  glittering  bayonets,  and  thus 
forever  blast  the  last  hope  of  the  rebel  chiefs.  Then  the 
waning  star  of  the  Rebellion  will  go  down  in  eternal  night, 
and  the  star  of  peace  ascend  the  heavens,  casting  its  mild 
radiance  over  fields  now  darkened  by  the  storms  of  this 
fratricidal  war.  Then,  when  '  the  war-drums  throb  no 
longer,  and  the  battle-flags  are  furled,'  our  absent  sons,  with 
the  laurels  of  victory  on  their  brows,  will  come  back  to 
gladden  our  households  and  fill  the  vacant  chairs  around 
our  hearthstones.  Then  the  stars  of  united  America,  now 
obscured,  will  re-appear,  radiant  with  splendor,  on  the  fore 
head  of  the  skies,  to  illume  the  pathway  and  gladden  the 
heart  of  struggling  humanity." 

Ever  intent  on  justice,  and  earnest  for  equal  rights, 
Mr.  Wilson  succeeded  in  introducing  into  the  appropria 
tion  bill  enacted  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  June,  1864,  a 
provision  to  the  effect  that  u  all  persons  of  color  who  had 
been  or  might  be  mustered  into  the  military  service  should 
receive  the  same  uniform,  clothing,  rations,  medical  and 
hospital  attendance,  and  pay,"  as  other  soldiers,  from  the 
beginning  of  1864.  He  fought  persistently  to  obtain 
justice  for  the  colored  troops  of  Massachusetts;  and 
finally  succeeded,  in  face  of  stanch  opposition,  in  carry- 


SOLDIERS'  WIVES  AND  CHILDREN.  335 

ing  through  Congress  his  important  and  humane  meas 
ure,  making  the  wives  and  children  of  those  whose  hus 
bands  and  fathers  were  fighting  for  the  Union  forever 
free. 

In  support  of  this  resolution  he  said,  "  It  is  estimated 
that  from  seventy-five  to  a  hundred  thousand  wives  and 
children  of  these  soldiers  are  now  held  in  slavery.  It  is  a 
burning  shame  to  this  country.  .  .  .  Wasting  diseases, 
weary  marches,  and  bloody  battles,  are  now  decimating  our 
armies.  The  country  needs  soldiers,  must  have  soldiers. 
Let  the  Senate,  then,  act  now.  Let  us  hasten  the  enact 
ment  of  this  beneficent  measure,  inspired  by  patriotism  and 
hallowed  by  justice  and  humanity,  so  that,  ere  merry 
Christmas  shall  come,  the  intelligence  shall  be  flashed  over 
the  land  to  cheer  the  hearts  of  the  nation's  defenders  and 
arouse  the  manhood  of  the  bondman,  that,  on  the  forehead 
of  the  soldier's  wife  and  the  soldier's  child,  no  man  can 
write  4  Slave.' '  This  measure  became  a  law  on  the  third 
day  of  March,  1865 ;  and,  six  months  afterwards,  Gen. 
Palmer  estimated  that  by  its  operation  nearly  seventy-five 
thousand  women  and  children  had,  in  Kentucky  alone, 
been  made  free. 

At  the  celebration  of  the  4th  of  July  by  the  freedmen 
in  the  District  of  Columbia  this  year,  he  was  present, 
and  made  an  encouraging  address.  "  I  predict,"  said  he 
to  them,  "  that,  before  five  years  have  rolled  around,  you 
will  be  allowed  to  vote,  and  right  here  in  Washington 
too."  Scarcely  half  that  time  passed  before  his  hopeful 
words  were  realized. 

Mr.  Wilson's  policy,  from  the  beginning  of  the  war,  was 
to  crush  the  Rebellion  just  as  quick  as  possible.  He  dep 
recated  the  delay  of  the  generals  in  command,  and  eve* 


336  LIFE  OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

urged  a  forward  movement.  He  voted  for  the  confirma 
tion  of  Gen.  Grant, -March  2,  in  the  Senate,  because  he 
felt  assured  that  he  would  allow  the  enemy  no  time  to  rally 
from  his  repulses ;  and  yet  his  motives  were  continually 
misinterpreted.  To  a  statement  in  "  The  New-York 
Herald,"  that  lie  had  been  to  Washington  to  urge  an 
armistice,  he  made  this  distinct  reply  in  a  letter  dated 
Natick,  Aug.  20,  1864  :  — 

44  There  is  not  the  slightest  foundation  for  the  report,  as 
I  never  entertained  for  a  moment  any  other  thought  than 
that  of  conquering  a  peace  by  the  defeat  of  the  rebel 
armies." 

At  this  time  "  The  New-Bedford  Mercury "  said  of 
him,  u  Henry  Wilson  has,  from  the  day  he  entered  the 
Senate  to  the  present  moment,  in  our  judgment,  and  we 
believe  in  the  judgment  of  the  great  body  of  the  people 
of  the  State,  been  an  able  public  servant.  No  man  has 
been  more  laborious  in  the  committee-room,  more  ready 
in  the  Senate-chamber,  and  we  believe  more  single-hearted 
and  unselfish  in  purpose  to  sustain  the  government  in  its 
trial-hours,  than  Henry  Wilson." 

The  following,  among  hundreds  of  letters  received  from 
all  parts  of  the  country,  will  also  indicate  how  the  soldiers 
and  the  people  viewed  his  senatorial  course :  — 

"  I  cannot  close  this  letter,  my  dear  sir,  without  thank 
ing  you  for  the  upright  and  manly  course  you  have  pur 
sued  all  through  this  terrible  war;  for  your  grand,  good 
words,  and  the  strong  blows  you  have  given  to  the  cause 
of  all  our  woe,  —  slavery.  At  last  your  efforts  and  those 
of  your  noble  colleagues  are  telling,  and  the  government 
seems  about  to  act  justly  towards  our  colored  soldiers. 


A  LETTER. 

God  grant  this  tardy  justice  may  help  to  prevent   more 
massacres ! 

"  I  am,  sir,  with  profound  respect,  very  truly  yours." 

His  friends  urged  Mr.  Wilson  to  accept  the  nomination 
for  vice-president  this  year ;  but  he  declined  to  be  a  candi 
date. 

29 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

RE-ELECTION    TO    UNITED-STATES    SENATE.  —  HIS   VIEW 

ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. ADDRESS    AT    WASHINGTON. 

SILVER   WEDDING.  —  ANTISLAVERY   MEASURES   IN 
CONGRESS. 


Mr.  Wilson  returned  to  the  United-States  Senate.  —  Notice  of  Election  by  "  The 
Boston  Journal."  —  Freedman's  Bureau.  —  Military  Appointments.  —  Visit  to 
Fort  Sumter.  —  Death  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  —  Mr.  Wilson's  View  of  him.  —  Speech 
at  Washington  July  4.  —  Mayor  Wallach.  —  Advice  to  the  Colored  People. 

—  The  Course  of  the  Executive.  —  Silver  Wedding.  —  Description    of.— 
Articles  presented.  —  Respect  of  his  Townsmen.  —  Record  of  Antislavery 
Measures  in  Congress.  —  Character  of  the  Work.  —  Opinion  of  "  The  Atlan 
tic  Monthly."  —  Summary  of  the  Work.  —  Slaves  used  for  Military  Purposes 
made  Free.  —  Fugitives.  —  District  of  Columbia.  —  " Black  Code."— Wit 
nesses.  —  Schools.  —  Railroads.  —  Territories  Free.  —  Emancipation.  —  Cap 
tives  of  War.  —  Rebel  Claimants  of  Slaves.  —  Hayti  and  Liberia.  —  Slaves  in 
Military  Service.  —  Fugitive-slave  Acts.  —  Slave-Trade.  —  Courts,  Testimony 
in.  —  Reconstruction.  —  United-States  Mail.  —  Wives  and  Children  of  Slaves. 

—  Bureau  of  Freedmen.  —  Amendment  of  the  Constitution.  —  The  Negro  a 
Citizen.—  Colored  People  indebted  to  the  Labors  of  Mr.  Wilson. 


IN  February,  1865,  Mr.  Wilson  was  re-elected  United- 
States  senator  for  the  term  of  six  years.  There  was  some 
delay  in  the  election  on  the  part  of  the  conservative  branch 
of  the  General  Court,  instigated,  said  "  The  Journal,"  "by 
a  few  eminently  respectable  parties  who  cannot  forget  that 
Mr.  Wilson  was  once  a  shoemaker.  We  should  like  to  see 
them,"  it  continued,  "  go  before  the  people  on  that  issue. 
They  would  hear  such  a  response  as  would  convince  them 

838 


DEATH  OF  MB.   LINCOLN.  339 

that  Massachusetts  esteems  the  sterling  qualities  of  a  self- 
made  man,  an  astute  statesman,  and  an  active  patriot,  over 
the  finest  strain  of  blood  or  the  most  eminent  respecta 
bility." 

In  March  of  this  year,  Mr.  Wilson,  from  the  Committee 
of  Conference,  reported  a  new  bill  for  the  establishment 
of  a  freedman's  bureau,  whose  object  was  the  supervision 
and  relief  of  the  freedmen  and  refugees.  This  important 
bill  was  carried  through  both  Houses  against  strenuous 
opposition,  and  received,  immediately  on  its  passage,  the 
president's  approval. 

As,  by  the  Constitution,  the  appointment  of  officers  by 
the  president  must  receive  the  confirmation  of  the  Senate, 
it  was  called  to  act  upon  ten  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
ninety-one  military  nominations,  ranging  from  second 
lieutenants  up  to  Lieut.-Gen.  Grant,  during  the  four  years 
of  the  Rebellion  ;  and  this  vast  amount  of  labor  fell  upon 
that  small  Military  Committee  of  which  Mr.  Wilson  was 
and  still  is  chairman. 

In  the  crowning  of  the  Union  arms  with  success  by  the 
surrender  of  Gen.  Lee  in  April,  Mr.  Wilson  saw  with 
inexpressible  gratitude  the  realization  of  his  hopes  and 
labors  carried  on  twenty  years  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
gigantic  slave  power  in  America  ;  and  he  left  Washington 
to  be  present  at  the  raising  of  the  Union  flag  once  more  to 
float  above  Fort  Sumter.  While  on  board  the  boat  off 
Hilton  Head,  he  heard  the  startling  news  that  the  president 
of  the  nation,  Abraham  Lincoln,  had  been  stricken  down 
by  the  ruthless  hand  of  J.  Wilkes  Booth ;  and  he  imme 
diately  hastened  back  to  Washington  to  assist  in  the 
emergency,  and  to  share  in  the  sorrows  of  the  afflicted 
people.  With  Mr.  Lincoln  his  relations  had  been  intimate, 
and  for  his  honesty  and  ability  he  entertained  profound 


340  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

respect.  In  an  address  (May  3)  before  the  New^En eland 
Historic-Genealogical  Society,  of  which  he  became  a  member 
in  1859,  he  said  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  that  "  he  would  pass  into 
history  as  the  foremost  man  of  his  age.  He  was  a  genuine 
product  of  our  democratic  institutions,  and  had  a  living 
faith  in  their  permanency.  His  sympathy  for  the  poor  and 
the  oppressed  was  hearty  and  genuine.  Of  his  mind,  one 
characteristic  was  the  power  of  stating  an  argument  clearly, 
and  of  quickly  detecting  a  fallacy.  He  had  also  a  felicity 
of  expression.  There  were  many  phrases  of  power  and 
beauty  in  his  letters."  The  speech  at  Gettysburg  was 
instanced  as  containing  some  of  the  noblest  utterances  of 
any  age. 

He  also  said  of  him  in  his  address  in  Chicago,  Septem 
ber,  1866,  "Abraham  Lincoln  was  always  patriotic,  always 
true  to  liberty,  justice,  humanity,  and  Christian  civiliza 
tion.  He  was  true  to  his  friends,  and  always  considerate. 
If  he  moved  slowly,  he  always  moved.  His  face  was 
always  in  the  right  direction." 

Mr.  Wilson  attended  the  colored  people's  celebration  in 
the  presidential  grounds  at  Washington,  July  4,  1865,  and 
said  in  his  address  to  them,  — 

"  I  am  not  here  to  find  fault  with  the  government,  how 
ever  ;  though  I  fear  that  the  golden  moment  to  secure  jus 
tice,  and  base  our  peace  on  the  eternal  principle  of  right, 
was  not  taken.  I  have  faith  in  the  motives  and  purposes 
of  the  administration,  and  shall  keep  my  faith,  unless  it 
shall  be  broken  by  future  deeds.  I  have  faith  in  the  mo 
tives  and  purposes  of  Pres.  Johnson,  who  told  the  colored 
men  in  the  capital  of  his  own  Tennessee  that  he  would  be 
their  Moses.  Andrew  Johnson  will,  I  am  sure,  be  to  you 
what  Abraham  Lincoln  would  have  been  had  he  been 
spared  to  complete  the  great  work  of  emancipation  and 
enfranchisement. 


ADDRESS  AT  WASHINGTON.  841 

"  Pardoned  rebels,  and  rebels  yet  unpardoned,  flippantly 
tell  us  that  they  hold  in  their  hands,  yet  red  with  loyal 
blood,  the  rights  of  loyal  colored  men,  of  the  heroes  scarred 
and  maimed  beneath  the  dear  old  flag.  I  tell  these  repent 
ant  and  unrepentant  but  conquered  and  subdued  rebels, 
that,  while  they  hold  the  suffrage  of  the  loyal  black  men  in 
their  hands,  we,  the  loyal  men  of  America,  hold  in  our 
hands  their  lost  privilege  to  hold  office  in  the  civil  service, 
army,  or  navy.  The  Congress  of  the  United  States  has 
placed  upon  the  statute-book  a  law  forever  prohibiting 
any  one  who  has  borne  arms  against  the  country,  or  given 
aid,  comfort,  and  countenance  to  the  Rebellion,  from  hold 
ing  any  office  of  honor,  profit,  or  emolument,  in  the  civil, 
military,  or  naval  service  of  the  United  States.  .  .  . 

"  You,  sir,  invited  Mayor  Wallach  to  be  here  to-day ; 
but  I  don't  see  him.  I  have  a  sort  of  dim  idea,  that,  if  you 
held  the  right  of  suffrage,  Mayor  Wallach,  and  perhaps 
the  whole  city  government,  would  be  here.  (Cheers.) 
To  insure  the  attendance  of  the  Mayor  of  Washington  next 
year,  I  would  suggest  that  you  early  send  your  petitions  to 
Congress  asking  for  the  ballot.  ('  We  will .')  I  am  a 
Yankee,  and  have  the  right  to  guess  ;  and  I  guess  you  will 
get  it."  (Great  applause.) 

But  from  the  appointments  of  the  president  for  the  South, 
from  his  sympathy  for  the  men  so  recently  engaged  in  the 
Rebellion,  and  from  his  treasonable  declarations,  the  senator 
saw  that  the  question  of  slavery  was  by  no  means  settled, 
and  that  the  great  impediment  in  the  way  of  settlement 
was  in  the  executive  chair. 

His  fears  were  openly  expressed  in  an  eloquent  speech  at 
the  Academy  of  Music,  Brooklyn,  N.Y.,  Oct.  25,  wherein 
he  describes  the  recent  rapid  growth  of  insurrectionary 

29* 


342  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

sentiment  in  the  Confederate  States  under  the  fostering 
patronage  of  the  president. 

"  Let  the  late  slave-masters,  from  the  Potomac  to  the 
Mexican  line,  fully  understand  that  you  are  amenable  to  the 
same  laws  as  themselves ;  that  you  are  to  be  tried  for  their 
violation  in  the  same  manner,  and  punished  in  the  same 
degree.  (Cheers.)  Let  them  know  that  henceforth  you 
will  utter  your  own  thoughts,  make  your  own  bargains, 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  your  own  labor,  go  where  you  please 
throughout  the  bounds  of  the  republic,  and  none  have  the 
right  to  molest  or  make  you  afraid.  (Applause.)  If  my 
voice  to-day  could  penetrate  the  ear  of  the  colored  men  of 
my  country,  I  would  say  to  them,  that  the  intelligence, 
character,  and  wealth  of  the  nation  imperatively  demand 
their  freedom,  protection,  and  the  recognition  of  their  rights. 
I  would  say  to  them,  '  Prove  yourselves,  by  patience, 
endurance,  industry,  conduct,  and  character,  worthy  of  all 
that  the  millions  of  Christian  men  and  women  have  done 
and  are  doing  to  make  for  you  —  that  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  read  here  to-day  — the  living  faith  of  United 
America.' >:  (Loud  and  prolonged  cheering.) 

On  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  their  marriage,  Oct. 
27,  1865,  the  friends  and  neighbors  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wilson  assembled  at  their  house  in  Natick  for  the  celebra 
tion  of  their  "  silver  wedding."  Although  the  night  was 
stormy,  a  large  number  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  from  their 
own  and  from  the  neighboring  towns  were  present ;  and 
with  mutual  congratulations,  speeches,  poetical  recitations, 
instrumental  music,  and  the  singing  of  songs,  a  bountiful 
collation,  and  the  outflow  of  good  will,  the  festival  was  full 
of  life  and  pleasure.  Among  those  present  were  Messrs. 
Hannibal  Hamlin,  Charles  Sumner,  Anson  Burlingame, 
Oakes  Ames,  William  Claflin,  Ginery  Twitchell,  Charles 


SILVER  WEDDING.  343 

W.  Slack,  and  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe.  Mrs.  Wilson 
received  her  guests  with  her  usual  unaffected  grace  and 
courtesy,  and  received  a  purse  of  four  thousand  dollars, 
presented  by  the  hand  of  William  Claflin.  An  address 
was  made  by  the  Rev.  C.  M.  Tyler,  Mr.  Wilson's  pastor 
at  that  time ;  and  a  poem  by  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe  was 
sung,  from  which  we  cite  the  following  stanza :  — 

**  But  Wilson  from  the  lowlier  base, 

The  silver  vantage  gaining, 
Climbs  ever  towards  the  golden  grace, 
With  labor  uncomplaining." 

Another  poet,  referring  to  Mrs.  Wilson,  wrote :  — 

"  Thus  every  wish  his  heart  could  frame 
In  her  reality  became : 
Affection,  undiminished  still 
By  clouded  brow  or  wayward  will ; 
And  that  still  lovelier,  holier  grace 
That  beams  upon  a  mother's  face,  — 
These  round  his  path  have  shed  a  light 
Mild  as  the  moon  of  summer's  night." 

Many  elegant  articles  of  silver  were  presented  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Wilson,  among  which  was  a  very  beautiful  silver 
tea-service  from  the  citizens  of  Natick.  On  subscribing 
for  this,  one  of  them  characteristically  said,  "  That  is  for 
the  MAN,  not  for  his  principles."  As  a  man,  Mr.  Wilson's 
townsmen,  even  those  bitterly  opposing  his  political  opin 
ions,  have  always  held  him  high  in  their  regard  and 
honor.  His  son,  Lieut. -Col.  Henry  Hamilton  Wilson, 
was  at  this  time  in  command  of  the  Hundred-and-fourth 
Regiment  of  United-States  colored  troops  at  Beaufort, 
S.C.  One  of  his  friends  on  the  occasion  truly  said  or 
sun<r,  — 


344  LIFE  OF  HENRY 


'  A  silver  wedding  claims  a  silvery  verse  ; 
And  WILSON  well  deserves  a  poet's  lay  : 
But  I  in  humbler  measure  must  rehearse 
How  fairly  earned  the  honors  of  this  day. 
For  friendship  here  puts  on  more  public  guise: 
The  man  we  love  has  been  the  people's  friend  : 
Not  wedded  faith  more  sacred  in  his  eyes 
Than  Truth  to  champion,  and  the  poor  defend." 

Mr.  Wilson  gave  the  world  this  year  a  work  of  great  and 
permanent  value,  bearing  the  title  of  "  History  of  the  Anti- 
slavery  Measures  of  the  Thirty-seventh  and  Thirty-  eighth 
United-States  Congresses,  1861-65.  By  Henry  Wilson." 
It  contains  four  hundred  and  twenty-four  pages  octavo,  and 
most  lucidly  exhibits  the  course  of  national  legislation  on 
the  slave  question,  from  the  opening  of  the  Rebellion  until 
the  overthrow  of  the  system  by  the  adoption  of  the  anti- 
slavery  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
The  work  is  written  with  great  candor  by  one  who,  as  we 
have  seen,  took  part  in  the  legislation,  framing  several 
of  the  most  important  measures,  and  carrying  them,  against 
persistent  opposition,  through  Congress.  The  style  is  dig 
nified  and  manly  ;  'the  speakers  present  their  views  in  their 
own  language  ;  and  the  .grounds  on  which  the  bills  are 
framed  are  very  ably  and  distinctly  stated.  The  abstract 
of  the  work  accomplished  by  the  fearless  advocates  of 
freedom  in  the  closing  pages  gives  with  clearness  the 
results  accomplished,  and  a  just  idea  of  the  burden  taken 
by  this  legislation  from  the  bondman  and  the  Union. 

"  This  volume,"  says  "  The  Atlantic  Monthly,"  "  is  a 
labor-saving  machine  of  great  power  to  all  who  desire  or 
need  a  clear  view  of  the  course  of  Congressional  legislation 
on  measures  of  emancipation  ;"  and  Mrs.  Stowe  character 
izes  it  as  "  exhibiting  the  magnificent  morality,  the  daunt- 


ANTISLAVEKY  MEASURES  IN   CONGRESS.          345 

less  courage,  the  unwearied  faith,  hope,  and  charity,  that 
are  the  crown  jewels  of  the  republic. "• 

The  closing  summary  of  the  achievements  of  the  friends 
of  freedom  given  in  this  work  is  so  well  made,  and  is  such 
a  valuable  historical  record,  that  we  think  it  worthy  of 
transcription. 

"  The  annals  of  the  nation,"  says  the  author,  "  bear  the 
amplest  evidence  that  the  patriots  and  statesmen  who 
carried  the  country  through  the  Revolution  from  colonial 
dependence  to  national  independence,  framed  the  Con 
stitution,  and  inaugurated  the  Federal  Government,  hoped 
and  believed  that  slavery  would  pass  away  at  no  distant 
period  under  the  influences  of  the  institutions  they  had 
founded.  But  those  illustrious  men  tasted  death  without 
witnessing  the  realization  of  their  hopes  and  anticipations. 
The  rapid  development  of  the  resources  of  the  country 
under  the  protection  of  a  stable  government,  the  opening- 
up  of  new  and  rich  lands,  the  expansion  of  territory,  and 
perhaps,  more  than  all,  the  wonderful  growth  and  impor 
tance  of  the  cotton  culture,  enhanced  the  value  of  labor, 
and  increased  many-fold  the  price  of  slaves.  Under  the 
stimulating  influences  of  an  ever-increasing  pecuniary 
interest,  a  political  power  was  speedily  developed,  which 
early  manifested  itself  in  the  National  Government.  For 
nearly  two  generations,  the  slaveholding  class,  into  whose 
power  the  government  early  passed,  dictated  the  policy  of 
the  nation.  But  the  presidential  election  of  1860  resulted 
in  the  defeat  of  the  slaveholding  class,  and  in  the  success 
of  men  who  religiously  believe  slavery  to  be  a  grievous 
wrong  to  the  slave,  a  blight  upon  the  prosperity,  and  a 
stain  upon  the  name,  of  the  country.  Defeated  in  its  aims, 
broken  in  its  power,  humiliated  in  its  pride,  the  slave- 
holding  class  raised  at  once  the  banners  of  treason.  Re- 


346  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

tiring  from  the  chambers  of  Congress,  abandoning  the  seats 
of  power  to  men  who  had  persistently  opposed  their  ag 
gressive  policy,  they  brought  to  an  abrupt  close  the  record 
of  half  a  century  of  SLAVERY  MEASURES  IN  CONGRESS. 
Then,  when  slavery  legislation  ended,  antislavery  legis 
lation  began. 

&  • 

"  When  the  Rebellion  culminated  in  active  hostilities,  it 
was  seen  that  thousands  of  slaves  were  used  for  military 
purposes  by  the  rebel  forces.  To  weaken  the  forces  of 
the  Rebellion,  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress  decreed  that 
such  slaves  should  be  forever  free. 

"  As  the  Union  armies  advanced  into  the  rebel  States, 
slaves,  inspired  by  the  hope  of  personal  freedom,  flocked 
to  their  encampments,  claiming  protection  against  rebel 
masters,  and  offering  to  work  and  fight  for  the  flag  whose 
stars  for  the  first  time  gleamed  upon  their  vision  with  the 
radiance  of  liberty.  Rebel  masters  and  rebel-sympathizing 
masters  sought  the  encampments  of  the  loyal  forces,  de 
manding  the  surrender  of  the  escaped  fugitives ;  and  they 
were  often  delivered  up  by  officers  of  the  armies.  To 
weaken  the  power  of  the  insurgents,  to  strengthen  the 
loyal  forces,  and  assert  the  claims  of  humanity,  the  Thirty- 
seventh  Congress  enacted  an  article  of  war,  dismissing 
from  the  service  officers  guilty  of  surrendering  these 
fugitives. 

"  Three  thousand  persons  were  held  as  slaves  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  over  which  the  nation  exercised 
exclusive  jurisdiction  :  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress  made 
these  three  thousand  bondmen  freemen,  and  made  slave- 
holding  in  the  capital  of  the  nation  forevermore  im 
possible. 

"  Laws  and  ordinances  existed  in  the  national  capital 
that  pressed  with  merciless  rigor  upon  the  colored  people : 


ATSTTTST.AVF.TIY   MEASURES   IN   CONGRESS.  347 

the  Thirty-seventh  Congress  enacted  that  colored  persons 
should  be  tried  for  the  same  offences  in  the  same  manner, 
and  be  subject  to  the  same  punishments,  as  white  persons  ; 
thus  abrogating  the  ;  black  code.' 

"  Colored  persons  in  the  capital  of  this  Christian  nation 
were  denied  the  right  to  testify  in  the  judicial  tribunals ; 
thus  placing  their  property,  their  liberties,  and  their  lives, 
in  the  power  of  unjust  and  wicked  men  :  the  Thirty-seventh 
Congress  enacted  that  persons  should  not  be  excluded  as 
witnesses  in  the  courts  of  the  District  on  account  of  color. 

"  In  the  capital  of  the  nation,  colored  persons  were 
taxed  to  support  schools  from  which  their  own  children 
were  excluded ;  and  no  public  schools  were  provided  for 
the  instruction  of  more  than  four  thousand  youth :  the 
Thirty-eighth  Congress  provided  by  law  that  public  schools 
should  be  established  for  colored  children,  and  that  the 
same  rate  of  appropriations  for  colored  schools  should  be 
made  as  are  made  for  schools  for  the  education  of  white 
children. 

u  The  railways  chartered  by  Congress  excluded  from 
their  cars  colored  persons,  without  the  authority  of  law: 
Congress  enacted  that  there  should  be  no  exclusion  from 
any  car  on  account  of  color. 

"  Into  the  Territories  of  the  United  States  —  one-third 
of  the  surface  of  the  country  —  the  slaveholding  class 
claimed  the  right  to  take  and  hold  their  slaves  under  the 

O 

protection  of  law :  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress  prohibited 
slavery  forever  in  all  the  existing  territory,  and  in  all 
territory  which  may  hereafter  be  acquired  ;  thus  stamping 
freedom  for  all,  forever,  upon  the  public  domain. 

"  As  the  war  progressed,  it  became  more  clearly  appar 
ent  that  the  rebels  hoped  to  win  the  border  slave  States ; 
that  rebel  sympathizers  in  those  States  hoped  to  join  the 


348  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

rebel  States ;  and  that  emancipation  in  loyal  States  would 
bring  repose  to  them,  and  weaken  the  power  of  the 
Rebellion :  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  on  the  recom 
mendation  of  the  president,  by  the  passage  of  a  joint 
resolution,  pledged  the  faith  of  the  nation  to  aid  loyal 
States  to  emancipate  the  slaves  therein. 

"  The  hoe  and  spade  of  the  rebel  slave  were  hardly  less 
potent  for  the  Rebellion  than  the  rifle  and  bayonet  of  the 
rebel  soldier.  Slaves  sowed  and  reaped  for  the  rebels, 
enabling  the  rebel  leaders  to  fill  the  wasting  ranks  of 

O  O 

their  armies,  and  feed  them.  To  weaken  the  military 
forces  and  the  power  of  the  Rebellion,  the  Thirty-seventh 
Congress  decreed  that  all  slaves  of  persons  giving  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  Rebellion,  escaping  from  such  persons,  and 
taking  refuge  within  the  lines  of  the  army ;  all  slaves 
captured  from  such  persons,  or  deserted  by  them ;  all 
slaves  of  such  persons,  being  within  any  place  occupied  by 
rebel  forces,  and  afterwards  occupied  by  the  forces  of  the 
United  States,  —  shall  be  captives  of  war,  and  shall  be  for 
ever  free  of  their  servitude,  and  not  again  held  as  slaves. 

"  The  provisions  of  the  Fugitive-slave  Act  permitted 
disloyal  masters  to  claim,  and  they  did  claim,  the  return 
of  their  fugitive  bondmen:  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress 
enacted  that  no  fugitive  should  be  surrendered  until  the 
claimant  made  oath  that  he  had  not  given  aid  and  comfort- 
to  the  Rebellion. 

"  The  progress  of  the  Rebellion  demonstrated  its  power, 
a,id  the  needs  of  the  imperilled  nation.  To  strengthen 
the  physical  forces  of  the  United  States,  the  Thirty-seventh 
Congress  authorized  the  president  to  receive  into  the 
military  service  persons  of  African  descent ;  and  every 
such  person  mustered  into  the  service,  his  mother,  his 
\vife  and  children,  owing  service  or  labor  to  any  person 


ANTISLAVERY  MEASURES  IN  CONGRESS. 

who  should  give  aid  and  comfort  to  the  Rebellion,  was 
made  forever  free. 

"  The  African  slave-trade  had  been  carried  on  by  slave 
pirates  under  the  protection  of  the  flag  of  the  United 
States.  To  extirpate  from  the  seas  that  inhuman  traffic, 
and  to  vindicate  the  sullied  honor  of  the  nation,  the  ad 
ministration  early  entered  into  treaty  stipulations  with  the 
British  Government  for  the  mutual  right  of  search  within 
certain  limits ;  and  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress  hastened 
to  enact  the  appropriate  legislation  to  carry  the  treaty  into 
effect. 

44  The  slaveholding  class,  in  the  pride  of  power,  per 
sistently  refused  to  recognize  the  independence  of  Hayti 
and  Liberia  ;  thus  dealing  unjustly  towards  those  nations, 
to  the  detriment  of  the  commercial  interests  of  the  coun 
try  :  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress  recognized  the  inde 
pendence  of  those  republics  by  authorizing  the  president  to 
establish  diplomatic  relations  with  them. 

41  By  the  provisions  of  law,  white  male  citizens  alone 
were  enrolled  in  the  militia.  In  the  amendment  to  the 
acts  for  calling  out  the  militia,  the  Thirty -seventh  Congress 
provided  for  the  enrolment  and  drafting  of  citizens,  without 
regard  to  color ;  and,  by  the  Enrolment  Act,  colored  per 
sons,  free  or  slave,  are  enrolled  and  drafted  the  same  as 
white  men :  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  enacted  that 
colored  soldiers  shall  have  the  same  pay,  clothing,  and 
rations,  and  be  placed  in  all  respects  upon  the  same  footing, 
as  white  soldiers.  To  encourage  enlistments,  and  to  aid 
emancipation,  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  decreed  that  every 
slave  mustered  into  the  military  service  shall  be  free  for 
ever  ;  thus  enabling  every  slave  fit  for  military  service  to 
secure  personal  freedom. 

4t  By  the  provisions   of  the   fugitive-slave   acts,  slave- 


350  LIFE  OF  HENBY  WILSON. 

masters  could  hunt  their  absconding  bondmei ,  require  the 
people  to  aid  in  their  recapture,  and  have  them  returned 
at  the  expense  of  the  nation  :  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress 
erased  all  fugitive-slave  acts  from  the  statutes  of  the 
republic. 

"  The  law  of  1807  legalized  the  coastwise  slave-trade : 
the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  repealed  that  act,  and  :nade  the 
trade  illegal. 

"  The  courts  of  the  United  States  receive  such  testi 
mony  as  is  permitted  in  the  States  where  the  courts  are 
holden  ;  several  of  the  States  exclude  the  testimony  of 
colored  persons  :  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  made  it 
legal  for  colored  persons  to  testify  in  all  the  courts  of  the 
United  States. 

"  Different  views  are  entertained  by  public  men  relative 
to  the  reconstruction  of  the  governments  of  the  seceded 
States  and  the  validity  of  the  president's  proclamation  of 
emancipation  :  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  passed  a  bill 
providing  for  the  reconstruction  of  the  governments  of  the 
rebel  States,  and  for  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  in  those 
States  ;  but  it  did  not  receive  the  approval  of  the  president. 

k4  Colored  persons  were  not  permitted  to  carry  the  United- 
States  mails:  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  repealed  the  pro 
hibitory  legislation,  and  made  it  lawful  for -persons  of  color 
to  carry  the  mails. 

"  Wives  and  children  of  colored  persons  in  the  military 
and  naval  service  of  the  United  States  were  often  he!d  as 
slaves;  and,  while  husbands  and  fathers  were  absent  fight 
ing  the  battles  of  the  country,  these  wives  and  children 
were  sometimes  removed  and  sold,  and  often  treated  with 
cruelty :  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  made  free  the  wives 
and  children  of  all  persons  engaged  in  the  military  or 
naval  service  of  the  country. 


ANTISLAVERY   MEASURES   IN   CONGRESS.          351 

"  The  disorganization  of  the  slave  system,  and  the  exi 
gencies  of  civil  war,  have  thrown  thousands  of  freedmen 
upon  the  charity  of  the  nation :  to  relieve  their  immediate 
needs,  and  to  aid  them  through  the  transition  period,  the 
Thirty-eighth  Congress  established  a  bureau  of  freedmen. 

"  The  prohibition  of  slavery  in  the  Territories,  its  abo 
lition  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  the  freedom  of  colored 
soldiers  and  their  wives  and  children,  emancipation  in 
Maryland,  West  Virginia,  and  Missouri,  and,  by  the  re 
organized  State  authorities,  of  Virginia,  Tennessee,  and 
Louisiana,  and  the  president's  Emancipation  Proclamation, 
disorganized  the  slave  system,  and  practically  left  few 
persons  in  bondage  ;  but  slavery  still  continued  in  Dela 
ware  and  Kentucky,  and  the  slave  codes  remained  unre- 
pealed  in  the  rebel  States.  To  annihilate  the  slave  system, 
its  codes  and  usages ;  to  make  slavery  impossible,  and 
freedom  universal,  —  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  submitted 
to  the  people  an  antislavery  amendment  to  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States.  The  adoption  of  that  crowning 
measure  assures  freedom  to  all. 

"  Such  are  the  '  ANTISLAVERY  MEASURES'  of  the  Thirty- 
seventh  and  Thirty-eighth  Congresses  during  the  past  four 
crowded  years.  Seldom  in  the  history  of  nations  is  it 
given  to  any  body  of  legislators  or  lawgivers  to  enact  or 
institute  a  series  of  measures  so  vast  in  their  scope,  so 
comprehensive  in  their  character,  so  patriotic,  just,  and 
humane. 

"  But,  while  the  Thirty-seventh  and  Thirty-eighth  Con 
gresses  were  enacting  this  antislavery  legislation,  other 
agencies  were  working  to  the  consummation  of  the  same 
end,  —  the  complete  and  final  abolition  of  slavery.  The 
president  proclaims  three  and  a  half  millions  of  bondmen 
in  the  rebel  States  henceforward  and  forever  free.  Mary- 


352  LIFE  OF  HENBY  WILSON. 

land,  Virginia,  and  Missouri  adopt  immediate  and  uncon 
ditional  emancipation.  The  partially  re-organized  rebel 
States  of  Virginia  and  Tennessee,  Arkansas  and  Louisi 
ana,  accept  and  adopt  the  unrestricted  abolition  of  slavery. 
Illinois  and  other  States  hasten  to  blot  from  their  statute- 
books  their  dishonoring  '  black  codes.'  The  attorney- 
general  officially  pronounces  the  negro  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States.  The  neoro,  who  had  no  status  in  the  Su- 

C5         ' 

preme  Court,  is  admitted  by  the  chief  justice  to  practise 
as  an  attorney  before  that  august  tribunal.  Christian  men 
and  women  follow  the  loyal  armies  with  the  agencies  of 
mental  and  moral  instruction  to  fit  and  prepare  the  en 
franchised  freedmen  for  the  duties  of  the  higher  condition 
of  life  now  opening  before  them." 

In  these  labors  Mr.  Wilson  bore  a  prominent  and  honor 
able  part ;  and  to  no  man  living  are  the  colored  people  of 
this  country  under  higher  obligation  for  their  liberty. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


CONTEST   BETWEEN    THE    PRESIDENT   AND    CONGRESS. MB. 

WILSON'S  VIEWS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION.  —  REPLY  TO  MR. 

COWAN.  SPEECH     ON     MR.     STEVENs's     RESOLU 
TION,    ETC. RELIGIOUS    VIEWS. MILITARY 

MEASURES    IN    CONGRESS. 


Course  of  the  President.  —  Reconstruction  Difficult.  —  Mr.  Wilson's  View.  — 
No  Desire  to  degrade  the  South.  —  Bill  to  maintain  the  Eights  of  the  Freed- 
men.  —  Supports  Mr.  Trumbull's  Bill  to  enlarge  the  Freedmon's  Bureau.  — 
What  he  means  by  Equality.  —  Honorable  Sentiments.  —  Joint  Resolution 
for  disbanding  Military  Organizations.  —  Speech  on  the  Resolution  of  Mr. 
Stevens  against  the  Admission  of  Southern  Representation.  —  The  Nature  of 
the  Struggle.  —  Condition  of  Freedmen. — Mistake  of  the  President.  —  Gen. 
Grant.  —  Legislative  Labors.  —  Speech  in  Boston.  —  Natick.  —  Defection  of 
the  President.  —  Massachusetts.  —  Congress  a  Co-ordinate  Branch  of  the 
Government.  —  Tour  through  the  West.  —  Speech  at  Chicago.  —  Elective 
Franchise  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  —  Corporal  Punishment.  —  Buying 
and  selling  Votes.  —  Address  on  Religion.  —  Testimony  of  Statesmen  to 
Christianity.  — An  Admonition. — Death  of  his  Son.  —  Monument. — Ad 
dress  at  Quincy.  —  Good  Advice.  —  His  Work  on  Military  Legislation  in 
Congress.  —  Its  Character. 

WHEN,  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  Andrew  Johnson 
came  into  the  executive  chair,  the  senators  of  our 
State  had  strong  hopes  that  he  would  carry  out  the  policy  of 
their  party,  and  maintain  the  vantage-ground  so  nobly  won 
by  the  untiring  valor  of  the  national  army.  The  States 
lately  in  rebellion  were  now  prostrate,  their  governments 
dissolved,  and  their  military  organizations  demoralized  and 

30*  863 


354  LIFE  OF  HENEY  WILSON. 

disbanded.  The  Union  flag  was  floating  over  them  ;  and 
the  leaders  were  ready  to  accept  such  terms  of  reconstruc 
tion  and  restoration  as  the  president  and  Congress  might 
deem  advisable.  It  was  a  golden  opportunity  for  the 
friends  of  freedom.  The  power  of  re-organization  was  in 
their  hands  :  but  the  work  to  be  accomplished  was  of  no 
small  magnitude  ;  and  from  the  peculiar  relations  between 
the  loyalists,  the  freedmen,  and  the  confederates,  it  was  as 
delicate  as  it  was  difficult  and  great. 

Forgetting  that  his  province  was  to  execute,  not  frame, 
the  laws,  and  assuming  that  the  power  of  reconstruction 
was  in  his  hands  alone,  the  president  began  the  work 
by  what  he  termed  an  "  experiment  ;  "  which,  during  the 
recess  in  Congress,  became  a  settled  governmental  policy. 
By  his  unwarrantable  course,  he  so  revived  the  hopes  of 
the  disloyal  States,  that  on  the  opening  of  the  Thirty-ninth 
Congress  in  December,  1865,  a  demand  was  made  for 
the  immediate  admission  of  senators  and  representatives 
holding  rebel  sentiments  from  the  disaffected  States.  This 
demand,  encouraged  by  Mr.  Johnson,  the  Republicans  per 
sistently  resisted  ;  and  the  struggle  between  the  legislative 
and  the  executive  branches  of  the  government  thence  be 
came  intensely  earnest,  and  so  continued  till  the  term  of 
the  experimenting  president  expired. 

In  the  reconstruction  of  the  States,  Mr.  Wilson's  counsel 
was  for  a  generous  yet  decisive  course  of  action.  Let 
loyal  men  alone  assume  control ;  let  freedmen  be  protect 
ed  ;  let  the  governments  be  constructed  on  the  basis  of 
equal  rights  for  every  citizen,  and  loyalty  to  the  Union. 
He  desired  not  to  crush,  but  to  elevate  and  improve,  the 
Southern  people  ;  asking  only  security  for  the  future  of 
the  nation.  Congress  alone  has  the  power  to  reconstruct 
the  States ;  and,  when  so  reconstructed,  they  may  have, 


REPLY  TO  MB.    COWAN.  355 

and  not  till  then,  a  representation  in  this  body.  In  sup 
port  of  his  bill  to  maintain  the  freedom  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  States  lately  in  rebellion,  he  said  in  the  Senate  on  the 
13th  of  December,  1865,  "  I  have  never  entertained  a 
feeling  of  bitterness  or  of  unkindness  to  the  Southern  peo 
ple.  Notwithstanding  all  that  has  taken  place,  I  have 
always  regarded  those  persons  as  my  countrymen;  nor  do  I 
wish  to  impose  upon  the  many  things  that  would  be  degrad 
ing  or  unmanly  :  but  I  wish  to  protect  all  the  people  there, 
of  every  race,  the  poorest  and  the  humblest ;  and,  while 
I  would  not  degrade  any  of  them,  neither  would  I  allow 
them  to  degrade  others.  .  .  .  To  turn  these  freedmen  over 
to  the  tender  mercies  of  men  who  hate  them  for  their  fidel 
ity  to  the  country  is  a  crime  that  will  bring  the  judgment 
of  Heaven  upon  us." 

Two  days  after  the  announcement  that  the  States  had 
ratified  the  constitutional  amendment  abolishing  slavery, 
Mr.  Wilson  introduced,  Dec.  21, 1865,  another  bill,  —  u  to 
maintain  and  enforce  the  freedom  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
United  States;"  which  was  nearly  the  same  in  substance  as 
Mr.  Trumbull's  Civil-rights  Bill,  enacted  over  the  veto 
of  the  president  on  the  9th  of  April,  1866. 

On  the  22d  of  January,  1866,  he  made  an  effective 
speech  in  support  of  Mr.  Trumbiill's  bill  for  the  enlarge 
ment  of  the  Freedrnen's  Bureau,  which  was  also  vetoed  by 
the  president.  Replying  to  Mr.  Cowan,  —  a  Republican  in 
name,  but  Democrat  in  action,  who  had  insolently  demanded 
what  the  honorable  senator  from  Massachusetts  meant  in 
saying  that  "all  men  in  this  countrv  must  be  equal,"  — 
he  said,  u  Does  he"  (the  senator  from  Pennsylvania)  "  not 
know  that  we  mean  that  the  poorest  man,  be  he  black  or 
white,  that  treads  the  soil  of  this  continent,  is  as  much 
entitled  to  the  protection  of  the  law  as  the  richest  and  the 


356  LIFE  OF  HENBY  WILSON. 

proudest  man  in  the  land  ?  Does  he  not  know  that  we 
mean  that  the  poor  man,  whose  wife  may  be  dressed  in 
cheap  calico,  is  as  much  entitled  to  have  her  protected  by 
equal  law  as  is  the  rich  man  to  have  his  jewelled  bride 
protected  by  the  laws  of  the  land  ?  Does  he  not  know 
that  the  poor  man's  cabin,  though  it  may  be  the  cabin  of  a 
poor  freedman  in  the  depths  of  the  Carolinas,  is  entitled 
to  the  protection  of  the  same  law  that  protects  the  palace 
of  a  Stewart  or  an  Astor  ?  He  knows  that  we  have  advo 
cated  the  rights  of  the  black  man,  because  the  black  man 
was  the  most  oppressed  type  of  the  toiling  men  of  this 
country.  The  man  who  is  the  enemy  of  the  black  labor- 
mg-man  is  the  enemy  of  the  white  laboring-man  the  world 
over.  The  same  influences  that  go  to  crush  down  and 
keep  down  the  rights  of  the  poor  black  man  bear  down 
and  oppress  the  poor  white  laboring-man.  ...  I  tell  the 
senator  from  Pennsylvania  that  I  know  we  shall  carry 
these  measures.  God  is  not  dead,  and  we  live  ;  and  stand 
ing  upon  the  eternal  principles  of  his  justice,  with  a  Chris 
tian  nation  behind  us,  with  God's  commands  ever  ringing 
in  our  ears,  we  shall  in  the  future,  as  we  have  in  the  twen 
ty-five  years  of  the  past,  march  straight  forward  to  battle 
and  to  victory  over  all  opposition." 

Such  sentiments  the  State  which  Mr.  Wilson  represents 
indorses.  They  accord  with  Solon's  high  conception  of 
true  liberty,  —  u  A  commonwealth  where  an  injury  to  the 
meanest  member  is  an  injury  to  the  whole." 

As  some  new  military  organizations  in  the  insurrec 
tionary  States  were  commanded  by  veterans  in  the  Rebel 
lion,  and  refused  to  carry  the  Union  flag,  Mr.  Wilson,  on 
the  lOt.i  of  February,  I860,  introduced  a  joint  resolution 
providing  that  they  should  be  forthwith  disbanded,  and 
such  organizations  prohibited  in  the  future.  This  became 


SPEECH  ON   ME.    STEVENS'S  RESOLUTION.  357 

a  law,  preventing  that  exhibition  of  disloyal  purpose,  and 
protecting  peaceable  citizens  from  abuse. 

On  the  resolution  of  Mr.  Stevens  against  the  admission 
of  senators  and  representatives  from  any  rebel  State  until 
Congress  shall  have  declared  such  State  entitled  to  such 
representation,  he  made,  March  2,  an  eloquent  speech,  in 
which  his  views  on  many  points  of  reconstruction  are  pre 
sented.  On  the  nature  of  the  struggle  he  asserted  that 

"  A  loyal  people  instinctively  see,  amid  the  turmoil  and 
excitement  of  the  present,  that  this  is  not  a  struggle  for 
the  re-admission  of  the  rebel  States  into  the  Union,  but  a 
struggle  for  the  admission  of  rebels  into  the  legislative 
branches  of  the  government ;  not  a  struggle  to  put  rebels 
under  the  laws  of  the  country,  but  a  struggle  to  enable 
rebels  to  frame  the  laws  of  the  country.  A  loyal  people 
see  that  the  Confederate  States,  reconstructed  since  the 
surrender  of  the  rebel  armies,  are  as  completely  in  the 
hands  of  rebels  now  as  on  the  day  Jeff.  Davis  was  incar 
cerated  at  Fortress  Monroe." 

Of  the  condition  of  the  freedmen  under  the  new  ordei 
of  things  he  remarked,  — 

"  The  poor  freedmen,  who  a  few  months  ago  were  leap 
ing  and  laughing  with  the  joy  of  new-found  liberty,  in 
voking  tfee  blessings  of  Heaven  upon  the  government  that 
had  stricken  the  galling  manacles  from  their  limbs,  are 
now  trembling  with  apprehension,  everywhere  subject  to 
indignity,  insult,  outrage,  and  murder.  During  the  past 
four  months,  in  Alabama  alone,  fourteen  hundred  cases 
of  assault  upon  freedmen  have  been  brought  before  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau.  Thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
of  harmless  black  men,  from  the  Potomac  to  the  Rio 
Grande,  have  been  wronged  and  outraged  by  violence, 
and  hundreds  upon  hundreds  have  been  murdered.  The 


358  LIFE  OF   HENKY   WILSON. 

offices  and  the  agencies  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  of  the 
officers  of  our  armies,  and  the  office  of  Judge-Advocate 
Gen.  Holt,  are  filled  with  the  records  of  outrage  and 
murder.  The  local  authorities  screen  the  murderers ;  the 
people  protest  against  the  punishment  of  white  men  for 
the  murder  of  black  men ;  and  the  murderers  go  unpun 
ished." 

Of  the  great  mistake  of  the  president  he  said, — 
"  Thoughtful  men,  anxious  to  heal  the  wounds  of  civil 
war,  and  bury  in  forgetful  ness  the  memories  of  old  con 
tests,  were  speaking  for  universal  amnesty  and  universal 
suffrage,  for  forgiving  and  restoring  all.  The  nobler  senti 
ments  of  the  liberty-loving  men  of  the  country  at  that 
time  are  caught  and  expressed  in  the  verse  of  Whittier :  — 

'  From  you  alone  the  guaranty 

Of  union,  freedom,  peace,  we  claim  : 
We  urge  no  conquerer's  terms  of  shame. 

Alas  !  no  victor's  pride  is  ours, 

Who  bend  above  our  triumphs  won 
Like  David  o'er  his  rebel  son. 

Be  men,  not  beggars  ;  cancel  all 
By  one  brave,  generous  action  ;  trust 
Your  better  instincts,  and  be  just. 

Make  all  men  peers  before  the  law ; 

Take  hands  from  off  the  negro's  throat ; 
Give  black  and  white  an  equal  vote. 

Keep  all  your  forfeit  lives  and  lands, 
But  give  the  common  law's  redress 
To  labor's  utter  nakedness.' 

14  If  the  President  of  the  United  States  had  seized  that 
golden  moment,  —  that  grand  opportunity  then  vouchsafed 
by  Providence  to  weapon  the  hand  of  the  new-made  free- 


SPEECH  ON  MR.   STEVENS' S  RESOLUTION.  359 

man  with  the  ballot,  —  these  sectional  controversies  would 
have  perished  forever  ;  the  representatives  of  the  rebellious 
States  would,  ere  this,  have  filled  these  vacant  chairs ;  and 
the  heavens  would  be  raining  their  choicest  blessings  upon 
the  nation  for  a  deed  so  wise  and  so  just.  But  the  presi 
dent,  though  frankly  avowing  himself  in  favor  of  qualified 
suffrage,  declined  to  asssume  the  responsibility  which  the 
condition  of  the  country  imposed  upon  him ;  and  the  great 
opportunity  God  gave  the  nation  to  destroy  caste,  to  clothe 
the  emancipated  race  with  power  to  guard  their  own  lib 
erties,  rights,  and  interests  without  a  struggle,  passed  by, 
perhaps  forever.  .  .  . 

"  The  loyal  people  of  the  United  States,  who  have 
poured  out  so  much  blood  and  given  so  much  treasure  for 
its  preservation,  are  in  favor  of  fully  protecting  the  people 
of  the  rebellious  States,  white  and  black,  loyal  and  dis 
loyal  ;  but  they  have  the  right  to  demand,  and  they 
should  demand,  before  intrusting  the  legislation  of  the 
country  to  the  framers  and  administrators  of  confederate 
governments,  and  to  the  soldiers  who  have  met  their 
sons  on  bloody  battle-fields,  ample  security  for  the  rights 
of  loyal  men  of  every  race,  and  for  the  money  loaned 
the  country  in  its  hour  of  need  to  arm,  clothe,  feed,  equip, 
and  pay  the  defenders  of  the  republic." 

In  the  closing  paragraph  of  this  spirited  speech  he  thus 
prophetically  pointed  to  Gen.  Grant  as  the  next  president. 
He  said, — 

44  Two  years  ago,  in  a  trying  hour  of  the  country,  we 
placed  a  great  soldier  at  the  head  of  all  our  armies ;  and 
he  led  those  armies  to  victory,  and  the  country  to  peace. 
Perhaps  a  patriotic  and  liberty-loving  people,  if  disap 
pointed  in  their  aspirations  and  their  hopes,  may  again 
turn  to  that  great  captain,  and  summon  him  to  marshal 
them  to  victory." 


360  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

In  addition  to  various  resolutions,  reports,  and  private, 
bills  which  he  brought  forward  during  the  Thirty-ninth 
Congress,  Mr.  Wilson  spoke  on  the  bills  for  the  admission 
of  Nebraska  and  Colorado,  for  which  he  voted  ;  also  in  ad 
vocacy  of  the  protection  of  the  national  cemeteries,  of  the 
establishment  of  a  department  of  education,  of  the  incorpo 
ration  of  the  orphans'  home,  of  appropriations  for  soldiers' 
bounties,  and  for  other  important  measures.  He  was  never 
idle ;  yet  he  often  said,  as  in  the  war,  that  he  was  not  ac 
complishing  what  he  would  or  could. 

Such  is  a  brief  outline  of  some  of  the  legislative  labors 
which  Mr.  Wilson  performed  in  that  series  of  Congressional 
measures  which  culminated  in  the  suppression  of  the  Rebel 
lion  and  the  liberation  of  the  slave  ;  and  which,  for  wisdom, 
efficiency,  and  humanity,  will  ever  command  the  admira 
tion  of  the  world.  Since  that  period  Mr.  Wilson  has  been 
steadily  at  his  post  in  Congress,  battling  for  the  rights  of 
the  freedmen  and  for  restoration  of  tranquillity  to  the  Union 
on  the  basis  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the 
Constitution.  The  pages  of  "  The  Congressional  Globe  " 
bear  ample  witness  to  his  unremitting  industry,  as  well  as 
to  the  practical  views  he  entertained  and  the  manly  senti 
ments  he  expressed  upon  the  various  questions  which  arose 
in  Congress. 

His  views  of  the  policy  of  the  president  Mr.  Wilson 
expressed  in  a  large  meeting  in  Tremont  Temple,  Boston, 
on  the  6th  of  August. 

After  alluding  to  what  had  been  accomplished  the  last 
six  years,  he  said  we  had  yet  work  to  do.  Of  the  honor 
able  men  who,  in  November,  1864,  re-elected  Abraham 
Lincoln  president,  and  Andrew  Johnson  vice-president, 
ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  were  to-day  bowing  their 
heads  in  disappointment  and  sorrow.  This  was  because  the 


SPEECH  AT  NATICK.  361 

vice-president,  who  became  president  by  an  act  that  needed 
not  naming,  has  disappointed  our  expectations,  turned  his 
back  upon  the  men  who  elected  him,  upon  the  principles 
he  then  professed,  and  is  to-day  the  inspiration  of  wrong 
and  outrage  upon  loyal  white  men  and  upon  loyal  black 
men  South. 

In  the  same  month,  by  an  invitation  signed  by  a  hundred 
and  fourteen  of  the  citizens  of  Natick,  he  addressed  the 
people  of  that  town,  who  always  throng  the  hall  to  hear 
him,  upon  the  variance  between  the  president  and  Congress; 
and  urged  his  hearers  in  words  of  glowing  eloquence  to  vote 
for  the  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  as  essential  to  the 
liberties  of  the  people  and  the  rights  of  the  unprotected 
freedmen. 

"  After  the  surrender  of  Lee,"  he  said,  "  the  rebels  were 
absolutely  under  the  control  of  the  military  authorities  of 
the  government.  They  were  then  ready  to  accept  any 
terms  the  nation  chose  to  give.  But  to-day  the  rebels 
have  possession  of  Virginia,  of  its  government,  of  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Mis 
sissippi,  Louisiana ;  and  on  Thursday  next  they  will  take 
possession  of  the  government  of  Texas  in  the  person  of 
their  rebel  governor,  Gen.  Throckmorton.  How  came  this 
so?  Andrew  Johnson,  elected  by  the  votes  of  loyal  men 
who  carried  the  country  through  the  fire  and  blood  of  four 
years  of  war,  has  put  these  States  in  the  hands  of  rebels. 

"  And  what  have  the  legislatures  elected  under  his  pol 
icy  done  ?  That  of  Virginia  inaugurated  no  State  officers 
unless  they  were  well-known  rebels.  North  Carolina  has 
elected  a  delegation  to  Congress,  that,  with  one  exception, 
are  rebels.  South  Carolina  has  elected  a  rebel  delegation, 
and  has  a  rebel  governor,  —  one  of  the  leading  men  in 
establishing  the  confederacy.  Georgia  has  elected  Alexan- 

31 


362  LIFE  OF   HENEY  WILSON. 

der  H.  Stephens  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and 
an  unbroken  rebel  delegation  to  the  House.  Florida  has 
a  rebel  governor,  one  rebel  and  one  loyal  senator,  whose 
term  will  expire  on  the  4th  of  next  March ;  and  there  is 
no  prospecl  of  his  being  re-elected.  Mississippi  and  Ala 
bama  have  sent  to  Congress  men  who  cannot  take  the 
oath.  .  .  . 

"  These  States  want  admission  into  Congress ;  and  for 
what  purpose  ?  To  take  part  in  the  government  of  the 
United  States  ;  and  not  only  to  govern  these  States,  but 
to  direct  and  control  the  policy  of  the  nation.  And  they 
present  themselves  with  the  declaration,  that  they  acquiesce 
in  their  defeat  because  they  cannot  help  it.  They  are  not 
sorry  for  their  revolt  against  the  country,  and  that  they 
murdered  more  than  three  hundred  thousand  men  fighting* 
to  uphold  the  old  flag.  We  should  never  consent  to  sur 
render  into  rebel  hands  the  government  for  which  these 
loyal  soldiers  died." 

He  closed  by  paying  an  eloquent  tribute  to  the  patriot 
ism  of  Massachusetts. 

"  He  had  jio  doubt  that  Massachusetts  would  be  all  right : 
she  had  always  been.  Among  the  first  and  foremost  has 
she  been  for  the  rights  of  man,  and  in  the  bloody  Rebellion 
through  which  we  have  just  passed.  The  bones  of  her 
sons  lie  upon  many  a  battle-field  ;  her  maimed  heroes  are 
here  among  us  ;  her  brave  men  who  have  come  from 
battle-fields  forever  made  immortal  are  here.  I  believe 
they  will  vote  in  the  future  as  they  have  fought  in  the  past. 
I  believe  that  the  loyal  men  who  carried  the  country 
through  the  war  will  stand  by  this  constitutional  amend 
ment,  —  stand  by  the  action  of  Congress  now,  and  elect 
one  that  will  be  true  to  them  and  that  in  1868.  The  unity 
of  the  country  will  be  assured,  and  the  liberties  of  aK  races 
and  conditions  of  men  forever  established  in  America." 


ADDBESS  AT  PHILADELPHIA.  363 

Senator  Wilson  spoke  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  was  fre 
quently  applauded. 

Addressing  a  vast  assembly  at  Philadelphia,  Sept.  4,— 
for  we  find  him  ever  moving,  ever  speaking,  in  defence  of 
human  rights,  —  he  said  he  "could  tell  the  president  and 
his  cabinet  that  Congress  was  not  a  subordinate,  but  a 
co-ordinate  branch  of  the  government  (cheers) ;  that 
backed  up  by  the  country,  as  it  had  been,  now  was,  and 
would  be,  it  would  speak  for  itself,  and  fix  the  time  and 
conditions  in  which  it  would  admit  the  representatives  of 
rebel  constituencies  to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa 
tives.  (Cheers.)  It  wanted  the  rebel  States  represented 
at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  not  by  such  men  as  had  met 
here  a  few  weeks  ago,  but  by  such  men  as  were  in  the  city 
to-day  (cheers),  and  who  were  true  to  the  country  and  to 
liberty." 

Referring  to  the  assertion  that  the  president  was  pursu 
ing  the  policy  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  which  Mr.  Wilson  pro 
nounced  as  black  a  falsehood  as  ever  fell  from  human  lips, 
he  said,  "Abraham  Lincoln  sought  to  put  the  rebel  States 
into  the  hands  of  loyal  men  ;  but  Andrew  Johnson  put 
them  back  into  the  hands  of  rebels ;  and  loyal  men  were 
under  the  hoof  of  those  rebels  as  much  now  as  when  Jeffer 
son  Davis  was  President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy." 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year  Mr.  Wilson  made  a  tour 
through  the  West,  where  he  met  with  most  cordial 
receptions,  and  addressed  many  large  and  enthusiastic 
audiences  in  six  Western  cities  on  the  questions  then  at 
issue.  In  this  journey  he  travelled  over  three  thousand 
miles,  and  in  one  instance  spoke  to  a  throng  of  about 
thirty  thousand  people.  In  his  speech  at  Chicago  on  the 
twenty-eighth  day  of  September,  he  said,  — 

"  You  will  remember  that  army  after  army  surrendered, 


364  LIFE  OF  HENRY   WILSON. 

and  those  composing  each  one  hastened  to  their  homes ; 
that  the  rebels  were  humiliated,  subjugated,  conquered, 
and  powerless  at  our  feet,  ready  to  accept  any  policy  the 
government  chose  to  impose  upon  them.  We  all  know 
that  these  conquered  rebels  in  every  portion  of  the  country 
were  ready  and  willing  to  accept  at  the  hands  of  this  gov 
ernment  just  such  a  policy  as  the  government  believed 
the  good  of  the  country  required. 

"  You  will  remember  how  kind,  humane,  and  generous 
our  people  were.  We  did  not  wish  their  lands,  money,  or 
blood ;  but  we  desired  security  for  the  future.  We  wanted 
that  the  fruits  of  the  war  should  be  gathered :  that  was 
all.  Our  capitalists  were  ready  to  send  their  money  there. 
Our  young  men  were  ready  to  go  there  and  develop  that 
portion  of  the  country.  Our  noble  women,  who  rushed  to 
the  hospitals  and  bound  up  the  wounds  of  our  soldiers, 
were  ready  to  go  there  and  instruct  the  darkened  intellects 
of  an  emancipated  race.  All  over  the  loyal  States  there 
was  a  desire,  not  to  punish,  to  crush  out,  or  to  crush 
down,  this  people,  but  a  desire  to  lift  up  and  improve  that 
section  of  the  country,  and  to  demand  only  security  for 
the  future  of  the  nation. 

"  Now,  this  was  the  feeling  in  the  spring  of  1865 ;  but 
what  is  the  condition  of  that  portion  of  the  country  now  ? 
These  men,  then  humble  and  penitent,  and  making  ex 
cuses  for  their  actions,  are  now  boasting  of  their  deeds 
against  the  country,  and  are  scornfully  defiant.  Why  ? 
Who  is  responsible  ?  I  say  that  Andrew  Johnson  alone 
is  responsible  for  this  change  in  the  condition  of  affairs. 
Our  brave  soldiers  struck  the  weapons  from  the  rebel 
hands,  and  Andrew  Johnson  has  restored  them  to  them. 
Every  one  of  the  States  which  he  has  reconstructed  has 
passed  into  the  hands  of  unrepentant  rebels.  The  othet 


SPEECH  AT  CHICAGO.  36  > 

day,  after  ho  had  put  the  government  of  Texas  into  tin- 
hands  of  a  rebel  general,  he  issued  a  proclamation  declar 
ing  that  peace  had  come.  Order  reigned  in  Warsaw 
then.  Peace  come,  when  the  last  great  rebel  State  was 
put  back  again  into  the  hands  of  the  rebels !  And  these 
States  are  in  rebel  hands  to-day. 

"  The  president  demands  the  admission  of  their  repre 
sentatives  into  Congress.  Now,  only  five  of  the  men 
elected  in  those  ten  rebel  States  can  take  the  oath  of  office. 
Five  only !  The  others  are  unrepentant  traitors,  though 
some  of  them  are  pardoned  ones.  Now,  it  is  demanded 
that  they  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States.  They  went  out  when  it  pleased  them  to  go  out : 
they  shall  come  back  when  we  please  to  let  them  back. 
They  went  out  against  our  pleadings.  We  almost  went 
upon  our  knees  and  implored  them  to  remain  with  us,  to 
follow  the  old  flag,  and  stand  by  the  common  country ; 
but  they  turned  their  backs  upon  us,  and  went  out  under 
taking  to  establish  a  government.  They  said  they  would 
go  out,  and  we 'said  they  should  not.  They  fought  to  go 
out,  and  we  fought  to  keep  them  in  ;  and,  thanks  be  to 
God,  they  are  to-night  part  and  parcel  of  our  common 
country,  within  the  Union,  and  under  the  authority  of  the 
laws.  The  old  flag  is  there  waving  over  them.  The  boys 
in  blue  are  there  to  maintain  the  authority  of  the  govern 
ment.  They  have  to  pay  their  taxes  and  obey  the  laws. 
They  are  subject  to  the  authority  of  the  nation.  All  there 
is  about  it  is  this :  their  senators  and  representatives  are 
not  yet  permitted  to  go  into  Congress  and  legislate  for  the 
country ;  and  we  mean,  when  we  have  taken  ample  secu 
rity  for  the  future,  to  let  them  in,  and  not  until  we  have 
taken  it. 

"  This  body  of  men,  *  calling  itself  a  Congress,'   that 

81* 


366  UFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

Andrew  Johnson  says  '  is  hanging  on  the  verge  of  the  gov 
ernment,'  —  this  body  of  men  has  framed  a  constitutional 
amendment.  We  have  submitted  it  to  the  people :  and  I 
tell  you  that  this  nation  has  resolved  it ;  it  has  proclaimed 
it;  it  is  recorded  that  that  amendment  shall  be  incorpo 
rated  into  the  Constitution  of  the  country,  and  the  repre 
sentatives  of  these  traitors  shall  sit  no  more  in  the  Con 
gress  of  the  United  States.  If  they  want  to  be  repre 
sented,  let  them  adopt  that  constitutional  amendment ;  let 
them  choose  men  who  believe  in  it,  who  are  for  it,  and  who 
will  guard  it ;  let  them  choose  men  who  will  in  the  fu 
ture  be  with  their  country  and  for  their  country,  —  men 
who  give  all  they  have,  and  all  they  hope  to  be,  to  the 
cause  of  unity  and  a  free  country,  —  a  country  that  recog 
nizes  the  equality  of  all  men,  and  the  equal  privileges  of 
all  men ;  and  then  the  seats  are  ready  for  them  in  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  and  not  until  that 
day. 

"  You  have  recently  had  a  visit  from  the  chief  magis 
trate  of  the  country.  Let  me  say  that  I  think  that  chief 
magistrate  has  gone  back  to  Washington  a  sadder,  if  not 
a  wiser  man.  He  believed  that  he  could  do  what  he 
started  to  do  in  May,  1865  ;  ay,  before  Abraham  Lincoln 
had  been  laid  in  his  grave  at  Springfield :  and  that  was,  to 
build  up  a  great  personal  party ;  that  he  should  be  the 
founder  of  a  great  political  party,  as  were  Jefferson  and 
Jackson.  He  has  labored  from  May,  1865,  until  the  pres 
ent  time,  to  create,  build  up,  organize,  and  develop  such 
a  party  in  America  ;  and  what  is  the  result  ?  He  has  the 
whole  power  and  patronage  of  this  government  brought 
to  bear.  He  has  shaken  in  the  face  of  the  loyal  people 
of  the  land  the  vast  patronage  of  the  government.  I  told 
them  in  the  Senate  last  winter,  that  a  nation  that  had 


"THE  POOR  M^S'S  FRIEND."  367 


buried  three  hundred  thousand  of  its  children  to  save  the 
country  was  in  no  temper  to  be  bought  off  by  patron- 
age." 

The  bill  for  extending  the  elective  franchise  to  the  freed- 
men  of  the  District  of  Columbia  received  Mr.  Wilson's 
cordial  support  during  its  tardy  progress  through  the 
Senate.  Speaking  on  one  of  the  amendments  to  the  bill, 
he  thus  declared  (Dec.  13,  1866)  his  views  on  the  right  of 
suffrage  :  "  Sir,  I  believe  in  the  right  of  suffrage  for  my 
country.  I  believe  in  it  far  more  for  the  poor,  igno 
rant  man.  I  believe  that  he  is  more  of  a  man  when  he 
has  it,  and  that  he  will  use  it  in  the  future  as  he  has  in  the 
past,  —  generally  for  the  elevation  and  the  protection  of  the 
poor  and  lowly  and  dependent.  No  loyal  man  who  has 
the  right  of  suffrage  shall  ever  have  it  taken  away  or 
abridged  by  me,  unless  for  crime.  No  poor  laboring-man 
shall  ever  accuse  me  before  the  bar  of  man  or  of  God  of 
voting  against  giving  him  the  same  right  that  I  possess  to 
go  to  the  ballot-box." 

Ever  espousing  the  cause  of  the  oppressed,  Mr.  Wilson, 
in  the  Senate,  on  the  20th  of  December,  1866,  introduced 
a  joint  resolution  authorizing  the  president  to  prevent  the 
infliction  of  corporal  punishment  in  the  States  lately  in 
rebellion.  Its  object  was,  especially,  to  defend  the  freed- 
men  in  their  helplessness  from  a  mode  of  punishment 
which  he  considered  barbarous  in  its  infliction,  and  de 
grading  in  its  tendencies. 

Surely  such  sentiments  —  and  they  are  the  rule  of  the 
heart  and  the  life  —  entitle  the  senator  to  his  honored 
name  of  "  the  poor  man's  friend." 

An  amendment  by  Mr.  Wilson,  making  it  unlawful  to 
buy  or  sell  votes,  was  incorporated  in  the  bill,  which,  over 
the  veto  of  the  president,  became  a  law  on  the  eighth  day 


368  LIFE  OF  HENHY  WILSON. 

of  January,  1867;  and  was  the  first  of  these  great  meas 
ures  giving  the  elective  franchise  to  the  entire  nation. 

Although  upright  and  honorable  in  his  dealings  with  his 
fellow-men,  consistent  in  his  walk  and  conversation,  a 
regular  attendant  on  the  services  of  the  sanctuary,  and  a 
supporter  of  the  institutions  of  religion,  Mr.  Wilson  did 
not,  until  the  autumn  of  1866,  avow  himself  a  follower  of 
the  Saviour.  But,  in  a  large  assembly  held  in  the  Congre 
gational  church  in  Natick  on  the  28th  of  October,  he  de 
clared  in  a  very  touching  address,  that,  within  a  few  past 
weeks,  he  had  come  to  a  knowledge  of  his  own  personal 
salvation  through  the  merits  of  the  Redeemer.  All  who 
knew  him  felt  that  he  would  stand  firmly  to  the  position 
he  had  taken  ;  and  many  prayers  ascended  to  the  seat  of 
mercy  that  the  richest  blessings  of  our  heavenly  Father 
might  attend  the  future  course  of  the  beloved  senator. 

On  his  return  from  Washington,  he  addressed,  Dec.  23, 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of  Natick  on  "  The 
Testimonies  of  American  Statesmen  and  Jurists  to  the 
Truths  of  Christianity,"  which  was  afterwards  published  in 
a  tract  for  general  circulation.  He  said,  — 

"  God  has  given  us  existence  in  this  Christian  republic, 
founded  by  men  who  proclaim  as  their  living  faith,  amid 
persecution  and  exile,  '  We  give  ourselves  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  the  word  of  his  grace,  for  the  teaching, 
ruling,  and  sanctifying  of  us  in  matters  of  worship  and 
conversation.'  Privileged  to  live  in  this  age,  when  the 
selectest  influences  of  the  religion  of  our  fathers  seem  to 
be  visibly  descending  upon  our  land,  we  too  often  hear  the 
providence  of  God,  the  religion  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  the  inspiration  of  Holy  Writ,  doubted,  ques 
tioned,  denied.  With  an  air  of  gracious  condescension  we 
are  sometimes  reminded  that  this  religion  of  the  crucified 


EELIGIOUS  VIEWS.  36  £ 

Redeemer  may  do  for  women,  for  children,  for  weak- 
minded  men,  but  not  for  men  of  experience,  observation, 
reflection.  Men  who  see  not  God  in  our  own  history  have 
surely  lost  sight  of  the  fact,  that,  from  the  landing  of  4  The 
Mayflower'  to  this  hour,  the  great  men  whose  names 
are  indissolubly  associated  with  the  colonization,  rise,  and 
progress  of  the  republic,  have  borne  testimonies  to  the 
vital  truths  of  Christianity. 

"  These  utterances,  not  of  the  great  teachers  of  Chris 
tianity,  but  of  men  of  varied  and  large  experience,  ac 
customed  to  the  classification  and  comparison  of  facts,  the 
sifting  and  weighing  of  evidences,  cannot  pass  unheeded 
by  the  young  men  of  the  land  who  cherish  their  names 
and  revere  their  memories." 

After  citing  the  testimonies  of  the  distinguished  states 
men  of  America  to  the  truth  and  value  of  the  Scriptures, 
he  closed  his  beautiful  address  by  these  admonitory 
words :  — 

"Young  men  of  this  Christian  association,  remember, 
ever  and  always,  that  your  country  was  founded,  not  by 
4  the  most  superficial,  the  lightest,  the  most  unreflective  of 
all  the  European  races,'  but  by  the  stern  old  Puritans,  who 
made  the  deck  of  '  The  Mayflower '  an  altar  of  the  living 
God,  and  whose  first  act,  on  touching  the  soil  of  the  New 
World,  was  to  offer  on  bended  knees  thanksgiving  and 
prayer  to  Almighty  God.  Remember,  too,  that  the  great 
men  of  your  country  —  Washington,  Franklin,  Jefferson, 
the  Adamses,  Hamilton,  Jay,  Marshall,  Kent,  Webster,  and 
their  illustrious  compeers  —  possessed  the  intellectual  'force 
and  severity  necessary  to  carry  far  and  long  the  greatest 
conception  of  the  human  understanding,  the  idea  of  God.' 
Never  forgetting  the  religious  character  of  our  national 
origin,  and  the  humble  and  pious  recognition  of  the  hand 


370  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

of  God  in  our  affairs  by  the  immortal  statesmen  and  jurists 
who  moulded  and  fashioned  the  institutions  of  our  country, 
we  will  continue  to  indulge  the  hope  that  it  shall  never  be 
said  of  any  considerable  portion  of  our  countrymen,  by 
poet,  philosopher,  or  statesman,  of  our  country,  that  their 
minds  are  too  superficial,  too  light,  too  unreflective,  to  con 
ceive  'the  profoundest  and  weightiest  idea  of  which  the 
human  intelligence  is  capable.'  ' 

A  few  days  afterwards,  the  sad  intelligence  of  the  death 
of  his  only  son,  L:eut.-Gol.  Henry  Hamilton  Wilson,  which 
occurred  in  Austin,  Tex.,  on  Dec.  24,  came  to  fill  his  home 
with  sorrow,  which  nothing  but  an  abiding  trust  in  Him 
"  who  doeth  all  things  well  "  was  able  to  assuage.  The 
remains  of  this  brave  young  soldier  were  brought  home, 
and  with  many  tears  consigned  to  their  final  resting-place 
in  Dell-park  Cemetery,  where  a  marble  monument  has 
been  raised  over  them,  bearing  this  inscription.  On  the 
front,  — 

"  LiEux.-CoL.  HENRY  HAMILTON  WILSON. 
Born  in  Natick,  Nov.  11,  1846 ;  died  at  Austin,  Tex.,  Dec.  24,  1866. 

Army  of  the  Potomac." 
On  the  reverse,  — 

"  He  the  young  and  strong,  who  cherished 

Noble  longings  for  the  strife, 

By  the  roadside  fell  and  perished, 

Weary  with  the  march  of  life. 

Department  of  the  South. 
Department  of  the  Gulf." 

Addressing  a  Christian  convention  at  Quincy  soon  after 
his  bereavement,  he  gave  some  account  of  the  Congres 
sional  prayer-meeting,  and  then  said,  u  In  military  life  it 


DTJTY  OF  CHEISTIAKS.  371 

is  the  duty  of  the  soldier  to  be  on  the  alert  at  all  times, 
and  always  to  be  present  at  the  roll-call :  so  should  Chris 
tians  always  be  present  at  prayer-meetings.  It  is  said  that 
prayer-meetings  are  sometimes  dull ;  but,  if  all  Christians 
attend  who  can,  they  never  will  be  dull.  With  the  room 
well  filled,  and  all  engaged  in  one  cause,  there  will  be  no 
lack  of  interest. 

"  Christians  should  act  from  principle  and  deep  con 
viction.  They  should  forsake  all  that  tempts  others  away 
from  duty,  should  abandon  all  that  will  leads  others  astray. 
If  a  glass  of  wine  leads  the  young  to  stumble,  Christians 
should  throw  it  away.  If  going  to  theatres  leads  others  to 
wrong,  Christians  should  keep  away  from  theatres.  If  a 
Christian  feels  that  his  staying  away  from  prayer-meeting 
causes  others  to  stay  away,  then  he  should  go,  even  if  he 
only  expected  to  meet  his  God  there.  Nothing  but  sick 
ness  should  keep  a  man  from  the  sabbath-meeting  ;  and  all 
should  go  to  the  prayer-meeting  who  could. 

"  Christians  should  not  neglect  their  duty  because  they 
are  depressed  in  spirit :  they  should  always  be  up  and  doing. 
They  should  always  act  from  principle,  and  always  do 
right.  He  said  he  looked  to  the  young  men  as  the  hope 
of  the  country  ;  and  they  should  catch  the  spirit  of  the 
age,  and  carry  it  forward.  They  should  act  now  as  they 
did  in  the  war.  The  gigantic  evil  which  had  overspread 
the  South  had  been  overcome  ;  and  now  that  region  is  a 
missionary  field  for  Christian  young  men.  The  next 
thirty  years  has  a  mortgage  on  the  efforts  of  every  Chris 
tian  young  man  and  woman. 

"  Although  that  gigantic  evil  had  been  overcome,  here 
in  Massachusetts  there  was  a  greater  evil  than  slavery  had 
ever  been  :  that  was  intemperance. 

44  The  church  wants  the  same  earnestness  that  the  coun- 


372  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

try  carried  into  the  war ;  wants  men  and  money  to  enroll 
in  the  ranks,  and  be  ever  ready  to  respond  to  the  call, 
morning,  noon,  or  night."  Alluding  to  the  death  of  his 
son,  an  only  child,  who  had  been  brought  home  a  corpse 
from  Texas,  he  said,  with  much  feeling,  that  he  would  give 
his  life  to-day  if  he  had  been  able  to  say  to  his  dear  boy 
what  he  was  now  able  to  say  to  young  men  ;  and  he  begged 
of  them,  as  they  loved  their  parents,  as  they  loved  their 
country,  to  love  their  Saviour  also.  They  knew  not  when 
they  might  be  brought  back  to  their  friends  as  his  son  had 
been.  In  conclusion,  he  urged,  that  no  matter  what  base 
motives  might  be  charged,  no  matter  what  might  be  said, 
all  should  do  their  duty,  and  serve  their  Master,  and  in 
life  and  death  have  the  proud  consciousness  of  having 
done  right. 

In  1866  Mr.  Wilson  found  time  to  enrich  the  legislative 
history  of  his  country  by  the  publication  of  a  very  valuable 
work,  under  the  title  of  "  Military  Measures  of  the  United- 
States  Congress,  1861-1865.  By  Henry  Wilson,  Chair 
man  of  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs."  It  is  printed 
in  double  columns  royal  octavo,  contains  eighty-eight  pages, 
and  forms  a  part  of  Frank  Moore's  "  Rebellion  Record." 
It  presents  a  clear  and  connected  view  of  the  course  and 
character  of  Congressional  legislation  in  respect  to  the 
calling-forth  and  organization  of  the  grand  army  of  the 
republic.  It  is  a  record  of  what  our  patriotic  Congress 
men  accomplished,  in  a  military  point  of  view,  for  the  salva 
tion  of  the  State,  when  imperilled  by  the  most  tremendous 
conflict  ever  known.  The  heart  of  the  nation  was  on  fire  ; 
the  actors  were  in  earnest ;  most  momentous  interests  were 
at  stake;  vast  plans  and  movements  were  inaugurated; 
gigantic  blows  were  struck,  and  hundreds  of  thousands 
gravely  fell.  The  organizing  and  constructing  power  was 


MILITARY  MEASURES  IN  CONGRESS.  575 

Congress :  hence  the  history  of  its  herculean  labors  through 
that  memorable  period  will  ever  command  the  attention  of 
the  world ;  and  it  is  fortunate  that  one  who  shared  those 
labors,  and  who  knew  their  magnitude,  was  led  to  make  of 
them  such  an  impartial,  vivid,  and  distinct  record.  The 
work  is  worthy  of  the  subject  and  the  man. 
II 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

REPLY      TO      MR.      NYE.    -   CONGRESSIONAL      TEMPERANCE 

SOCIETY.  -  WELCOME    TO   BOSTON.  -  SOUTHERN  TOUR. 

-  CONVENTION     AT    WORCESTER.  -  SPEECH     AT 

MARLBOROUGH.     -    BANGOR.     -     FANEUIL 

HALL.  -  WORKING-MEN.  -  HISTORY  OF 

THE     RECONSTRUCTION     MEASURES 

IN    CONGRESS. 


Peonage.  —  Whipping.  —  Colored  Persons  in  the  Militia.  —  Bill  to  facilitate  Resto 
ration.  —  Speech  thereon.  —  Feelings  toward  the  Rebels.  —  Temperance  in 
Congress.  —  Hon.  Richard  Yates.  —  Reception  at  Tremont  Temple.  —  Re 
marks  of  W.  B.  Spooner.  —  Mr.  Wilson's  Address.  —  Mr.  Yates's.  —  Liquors 
banished  from  the  Capitol.  —  Enforcement  of  the  Law.  —  Visit  to  the  South. 
—  At  Richmond,  Va.  —  Petersburg.  —  Animosity  of  Goldsborough,  N.C.  — 
Reception  at  Wilmington.  —  Mr.  Robinson.  —  At  Charleston,  May  2.  —  New 
Orleans.  —  Gen.  Longstreet's  Opinion.  —  Declines  going  to  Europe.  —  Bill 
vacating  Offices.  —  Appointing  Civilians  incorporated  in  Mr.  Trumbull's 
Bill.  —  Remarks  on  its  Passage.  —  President  of  Convention  at  Worcester.  — 
Speech.  —  Gen.  Sheridan.  —  Hopeful  View  of  the  Republic.  —  Speech  at 
Marlborough.  —  Effects  of  Intemperance.  —  Who  are  Weak?  —  Strong 
Appeal.  —  Speech  at  Bangor.  —  Gen.  Grant.  —  Speech  in  Faueuil  Hall.  — 
Friend  of  Working-Men.  —  Reconstruction  Measures  —  Style  and  Subject 
Matter.  —  A  Wedding. 


system  of  peonage,  or  servitude,  for  debt,  was 
in  force  in  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico,  and 
about  two  thousand  persons  were  held  in  thraldom.  Mr. 
Wilson  saw  that  it  was  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  our 
liberal  institutions,  and  therefore  introduced  a  bill  on  the 

374 


REPLY  TO  MR.   NYE.  375 

twenty-sixth  day  of  January,  1867,  for  its  abolition,  which, 
on  the  2(1  of  the  following  March,  became  a  law;  and 
thus  was  the  last  vestige  of  human  servitude  in  this  land 
obliterated. 

On  the  twelfth  day  of  February,  1867,  he  reported  two 
bills  in  the  Senate,  —  one  of  which,  in  its  eleventh  section, 
prohibited  whipping  in  the  reconstructed  States  ;  and  the 
other,  that  the  word  "  white  "  should  be  stricken  from  the 
militia-laws,  so  that  colored  persons  might  become  a  part 
of  the  militia  of  the  United  States. 

In  order  to  carry  into  effect  the  measures  of  reconstruc 
tion  already  passed,  Mr.  Wilson,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1867, 
introduced  an  important  bill  supplementary  to  the  act  pro- 
vidino-  for  "  the  more  efficient  government  of  the  rebel 
States,  and  to  facilitate  restoration  ;  "  which,  after  long  dis 
cussion  in  both  Houses,  became  a  law  over  the  veto  of  the 
president  on  the  twenty-third  day  of  the  same  month.  In 
a  sharp  encounter  during  the  progress  of  this  bill  with 
Mr.  Nye  of  Nevada,  who  was  very  severe  in  denouncing 
the  rebels,  and  thought  Mr.  Wilson  was  extending  his 
Christian  charity  too  far  towards  them,  he  thus,  in  the 
spirit  of  wise  and  liberal  statesmanship,  replied  :  — 

44 1  remind  that  senator  in  the  outset  that  this  nation 
has  been  engaged  in  a  mighty  contest  of  ideas,  a  bloody 
struggle,  in  which  all  the  passions  of  this  people,  South 
and  North,  have  been  aroused.  That  bloody  struggle 
is  ended  ;  that  contest  of  ideas  is  closed.  Patriotism,  hu 
manity,  and  Christianity  bid  us  of  the  North  and  of  the 
South  subdue,  hush,  and  calm  the  passions  engendered  by 
the  terrific  conflicts  through  which  we  have  passed,  and  to 
call  the  dews  of  blessing,  not  the  bolts  of  cursing,  down 
upon  each  other.  We  should  remember  the  words  of  one 
of  our  own  poets  of  freedom  and  humanity :  — 


376  LIFE  OF  HENRY   WILSON. 

*  Always  he  who  most  forgiveth 
In  his  brother  is  most  just.' 

"  Whatever  the  champions  of  the  lost  cause  in  the  South 
may  do,  we  of  the  North,  whose  cause  is  triumphant  in  the 
fields  of  war  and  of  peace,  should  appeal,  not  to  the  passions 
and  prejudices  and  hatreds  of  the  people,  but  to  the  heart 
and  conscience  and  reason.  Unreasoning  passion  may 
applaud  violent  appeals  to-day ;  but  unclouded  reason  will 
utter  its  voice  of  condemnation  to-morrow. 

"  The  honorable  senator  from  Nevada  is  pleased  to  tell 
me  that  I  am  anxious  to  welcome  rebels  here.  I  do  not 
propose  to  welcome  rebels  here  ;  but  I  do  desire  to  wel 
come  tried  and  true  men  of  the  South,  the  representatives 
of  the  seven  hundred  thousand  enfranchised  black  men, 
the  ever-loyal  white  men  of  the  South,  and  the  men  com 
promised  by  the  Rebellion,  whose  affections  are  again  given 
to  their  native  land,  and  who  would  now  peril  their  lives 
for  the  unity  of  the  republic  and  the  triumph  of  the  old 
flag.  I  believe  that  the  enfranchised  black  men  of  the 
rebel  States,  the  men  who  have  ever  been  loyal,  and  the 
men  reluctantly  compromised  by  the  Rebellion,  who  are  for 
their  country,  and  many  fiery,  generous,  deluded  young 
men  of  the  South,  who  have  seen  their  political  illusions 
vanish  in  the  smoke  of  lost  battle-fields,  can  immediately 
take  the  direction  and  control  of  these  rebel  States.  I  be 
lieve  these  States  must  pass  into  the  hands  of  patriotic  men, 
who  comprehend  in  their  affections  the  whole  country  ;  of 
liberty-loving  men,  who  believe  in  the  sublime  creed  of 
human  equality.  I  believe  these  States  will  soon  pass  into 
the  hands  of  radical  and  progressive  men  who  are  true  to 
country,  true  to  the  equal  rights  of  man,  true  to  the  laws 
of  human  development  and  progress.  I  would  facilitate 
that  great  work ;  I  would  welcome  these  men  into  these 


KEPLY  TO  ME.   NYE.  371 

chambers  with  heart  and  hand.  Does  the  senator  from 
Nevada  wish  to  keep  such  men  out  of  these  chambers  ?  .  .  . 
The  honorable  senator  from  Nevada,  and  those  who  agree 
with  him,  fear  our  enemies,  and  distrust  our  friends.  I  do 
not  fear  our  enemies,  and  I  have  confidence  in  our  friends. 
This  is  the  difference  between  the  honorable  senator  from 
Nevada  and  myself. 

"  The  honorable  senator  from  Nevada  deems  it  matter 
of  reproach,  now  the  bloody  contest  is  over,  the  rebels 
beaten,  and  their  cause  lost  forever,  that  I  should  not  enter 
tain  and  express  toward  my  defeated  and  fallen  countrymen 
of  the  South  the  same  stern  condemnation,  the  same  senti 
ments  of  censure  and  reproach.  They  are  not  alien  ene 
mies  ;  they  are  not  of  another  lineage  and  language  :  they 
are  our  countrymen.  These  States  must  continue  for  ages 
to  come  to  be  a  part  of  our  common  country ;  and  these 
people,  their  children,  and  their  children's  children,  must 
continue  to  be  our  countrymen.  I  do  not  consider  it  either 
generous,  manly,  or  Christian,  to  nourish  or  cherish  or  ex 
press  feelings  of  wrath  or  hatred  toward  them.  At  this 
time,  when  these  misguided  and  mistaken  countrymen  of 
ours  have  been  conquered,  when  we  have  absolutely  estab 
lished  our  ideas,  which  must  pervade  and  be  incorporated 
into  their  system  of  public  policy,  it  seems  to  me  to  be  a 
duty  sanctioned  by  humanity  and  religion  to  heal  the 
wounds  of  war.  Sir,  I  have  fought  the  battle  for  the  coun 
try,  I  have  fought  this  battle  for  the  equal  rights  of  man, 
not  to  pull  down  anybody,  nor  to  be  the  personal  enemy  of 
anybody  on  earth.  That  is  my  position  now,  and  it  will 
be  my  position  hereafter.  Our  words  should  not  rekindle 
the  prejudices,  passions,  and  hatreds  engendered  by  the 
bloody  struggles  of  civil  war ;  but  our  words  should  be  fitted 

32* 


378  LIFE  OF  HENBY  WILSON. 

0 

to  the  changed  condition  of  affairs  and  the  needs  of  oui 
country." 

Anxious  to  save  some  of  his  associates  at  Washington 
from  the  baleful  influence  of  strong  drink,  Mr.  Wilson, 
early  this  year  (1867),  instituted  the  Congressional  Tem 
perance  Society,  of  which  he  was  chosen  president.  At 
the  first  meeting  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
was  densely  crowded,  many  standing  in  the  aisles  and  at 
the  doors.  On  taking  the  chair,  Mr.  Wilson  said,  — 

"  Several  senators  and  representatives,  mindful  of  the 
numerous  evils  and  sorrows  of  intemperance,  had  formed 
a  society,  in  which  they  had  pledged  each  to  the  other, 
and  all  to  the  country,  to  put  away  from  them  forever 
the  intoxicating  cup,  and  to  commit  themselves  and 
all  they  have  to  the  holy  cause  of  temperance.  They 
humbly  trusted  in  the  providence  of  Almighty  God  that 
they  might  contribute  to  arrest  the  evils  of  intemperance 
which  were  sweeping  over  our  land." 

Among  those  who  spoke  was  Senator  Yates  of  Illinois, 
who  had  been,  like  many  others,  reclaimed  by  the  kind 
efforts  and  example  of  the  president  of  the  society.  His 
remarks  were  very  touching,  and  were  listened  to  with 
sincere  delight.  A  noble  man  had  come  to  his  right  mind. 
He  ascribed  his  taking  the  pledge  to  Mr.  Wilson,  who  came 
to  him  "  in  the  kindness  and  goodness  of  his  big  heart,"  and 
said  to  him,  "  Governor,  I  want  you  to  sign  a  call  for  a 
temperance  meeting."  He  replied,  "  With  all  my  heart," 
but  did  not  wait  for  the  meeting  before  he  signed  the 
pledge.  He  had  now  "  promised  the  State,  and  all  who 
loved  him,  Katy,  and  the  children,  that  he  would  never 
more  touch,  taste,  or  handle,'  the  unclean  thing." 

For  his  eloquent  words  and  earnest  efforts  on  behalf  of 
temperance  at  Washington  the  citizens  of  Boston  tendered 


WELCOME  TO  BOSTON.  37S 

• 

Mr.  Wilson  a  public  reception,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  April, 
at  the  Tremont  Temple.  The  building  was  crowded,  and 
the  utmost  enthusiasm  prevailed.  On  taking  the  chair, 
the  president  (William  B.  Spooner),  said, — 

44  You  have  been  invited  to  come  here  this  evening  to 
give  a  cordial  welcome  to  Mr.  Wilson,  and  to  receive  words 
of  encouragement  and  wisdom  from  one  who  has  always 
been  true  to  this  subject,  to  this  cause,  as  he  has  always 
been  true  to  the  cause  of  the  weak,  suffering,  and  down 
trodden,  on  all  occasions.  (Applause.) 

"  He  has  never  forborne  to  speak  his  mind  on  this  sub 
ject,  whenever  occasion  called  ;  he  has  never  failed,  in  low 
places  or  in  high  places,  wherever  he  has  been,  to  give  his 
example  in  favor  of  temperance.  I  have  known  him  thirty 
years.  When  quite  a  young  man,  I  used  then  to  be  with 
him  in  the  temperance  movement.  He  was  always  ready, 
and  did  not  stop  to  ask  whether  the  cause  were  popular.  He 
asked  whether  it  were  right  (applause).  He  asked,  4  Can  I 
do  any  good  ?  Can  my  example,  my  word,  in  favor  of  the 
cause,  benefit  my  fellow-man  ?  '  That  it  has  done  good  is 
manifest.  His  example  is  one  which  in  this  State,  if  a  man 
wishes  for  promotion,  he  had  better  follow  ;  that  is,  do 
whatever  is  right  under  all  circumstances.  (Applause.)  He 
asked  only  the  questions, '  Is  it  right  ?  Can  I  do  any  good  ?  ' 
His  recent  efforts  at  the  capital  of  the  country  in  forming 
a  total-abstinence  society  among  the  members  of  Congress 
and  the  other  officers  of  the  government,  have  turned  the 
attention  of  his  state  and  of  the  country  anew  to  him  as 
an  advocate  of  temperance."  Mr.  Wilson  was  introduced 
amid  the  most  enthusiastic  applause,  and  then  made  an 
address  of  remarkable  force  and  fervor.  In  the  course  of 
his  speech,  he  said,  — 

44  You  have  made  mention  to-night,  sir,  of  the  organiza- 


380  LIFE   OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

tion  of  the  Congressional  Temperance  Society.  Sir,  I 
claim  no  honor  for  that.  At  the  last  session  of  Congress 
we  organized  a  Congressional  Temperance  Society,  com 
posed  of  some  of  our  ablest,  truest,  and  best  men ;  and  I 
thank  God  to-night  that  it  lives  in  the  strength  of  its  pur 
pose  and  its  power.  (Applause.)  Judging  from  the 
words  that  come  to  us  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  it  has 
contributed  something  to  advance  the  holy  cause  of  tem 
perance  throughout  the  land.  I  say  to  you  to-night,  what  I 
believe  to  be  true,  that  there  is  no  city  of  the  Union  where 
there  are,  in  proportion  to  the  numbers,  more  true,  earnest, 
and  devoted  temperance  men  than  in  the  city  of  Washing 
ton.  (Applause.)  There  are  more  than  six  thousand 
members  of  temperance  organizations  in  that  city  (ap 
plause)  ;  and  such  men  as  Gen.  Howard  (applause),  one 
of  our  noblest,  bravest,  and  best,  are  giving  their  influence 
to  advance  the  cause.  More  than  seven  hundred  liquor- 
shops  have  been  closed  in  that  city,  not  by  law,  but  starved 
out  by  the  people ;  and  there  are  hundreds  of  other  shops 
that  are  eking  out  a  precarious  existence.  .  .  . 

"  The  prairies  of  Illinois  are  all  aflame  in  favor  of  the 
cause,  following  in  the  grand  movement  their  loved  and 
honored  senator,  Richard  Yates.  (Applause.)  He  has 
been  one  of  the  victims  of  the  curse  of  intemperance. 
Every  man  and  woman  and  child  in  his  State  knew  it. 
Last  winter  he  came  to  me,  or  rather  I  went  to  him, 
and  asked  him  if  he  would  sign  a  call  for  a  temperance 
meeting  to  organize  a  Congressional  society  ;  and  he  said 
he  would  do  it  with  all  his  heart.  Before  I  could  get  up 
the  meeting,  he  became  earnest  in  the  matter,  and  com 
mitted  himself  to  the  cause ;  and,  by  the  blessing  of 
Almighty  God,  I  believe  he  will  stand  to  it.  He  goes 
home  in  a  few  days,  and  will  be  welcomed  at  Chicago  aa 


LIQUOR  BANISHED   FROM   THE   CAPITOL.  381 

you  welcome  me  here  to-night.  (Applause.)  His  influ 
ence  will  tell  with  powerful  effect  in  that  State,  where  he  is 
honored  and  loved  for  his  devotion  to  his  country,  to 
freedom,  and  for  his  generous  personal  qualities. 

"  Two  years  ago,  after  the  humiliating  scene  of  the 
inauguration,  I  secured  the  passage  of  a  resolution  in  the 
Senate,  forbidding  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  in 
the  Capitol.  In  spite  of  that  resolution,  liquors  were 
brought  into  the  committee-rooms  and  into  other  places. 
Again  I  introduced  the  subject  of  banishing  liquors  from 
the  Capitol ;  and  Congress  adopted  a  joint  rule  forbidding 
the  sale,  and  empowering  the  sergeants-at-arms  of  the 
two  Houses  to  keep  all  kinds  of  liquors  out  of  the  Capitol 
of  the  nation.  (Applause.)  No  more  can  intoxicating 
liquors  be  brought  into,  sold,  or  given  away  in,  that  mag 
nificent  edifice.  This  banishment  of  liquors  has  been  fol 
lowed  by  the  adoption  of  a  rule  requiring  the  members  of 
the  Capitol-police  to  sign  the  total-abstinence  pledge  ;  and 
they  all  have  done  it  (applause),  and  more  than  four- 
fifths  of  the  Senate  employe's  have  signed  the  pledge." 
(Applause.) 

He  closed  his  grand  address  by  saying,  — 

"  I  thank  you,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  for  this  generous 
welcome  and  these  applauding  voices ;  I  thank  you,  Mr. 
Chairman,  for  your  words  of  kindness  and  approval :  and 
I  close  with  the  expression  of  the  hope  that  the  hallowed 
cause  of  temperance  will  be  advanced  in  the  state  and 
nation.  In  this  hour  of  trial  let  us  invoke  upon  it  the 
blessing  of  Almighty  God,  and  the  prayers  of  all  whose 
hearts  throb  in  sympathy  with  tempted  and  struggling 
humanity."  (Prolonged  applause.) 

In  order  to  examine  the  condition  of  the  South,  encour 
age  the  colored  people,  and  defend  the  policy  of  his  party, 


382  LIFE   OF   HENEY   WILSON. 

Mr.  Wilson  made,  in  the  spring  of  1867,  a  tour  through 
the  Southern  States.  At  Richmond,  Va.,  he  addressed 
some  six  thousand  people  from  the  steps  of  the  Capitol. 
He  was  introduced  to  them  by  Gov.  Pierpont,  and  assured 
his  hearers  that  the  Reconstruction  Bill  had  in  view  the 
highest  good  of  the  whole  country,  and  advised  all  classes 
to  unite  on  the  basis  of  the  Republican  party.  "  The 
Richmond  Times  "  announced  him  as  "  a  Puritan  radical 
under  the  shadow  of  the  monument  of  the  great  Virginia 
rebel." 

At  Petersburg,  April  4,  he  spoke  as  openly  as  he 
would  have  done  on  Bunker  Hill.  The  mayor  presided 
at  the  meeting,  which  numbered  several  thousands.  In 
respect  to  the  war,  he  said,  — 

"  It  had  to  come  ;  it  was  unavoidable.  It  came,  and  we 
fought  it  out ;  and,  when  the  last  gun  was  fired,  I  was  in 
favor  of  forgetting  all  the  bitterness  engendered  by  the 
contest,  and  of  marching  with  you  shoulder  to  shoulder 
in  favor  of  a  united  country.  .  .  .  There  was  only  one 
cause  of  the  war,  — human  slavery  in  America."  To  the 
colored  people  he  said,  "  Go  for  the  schoolhouse  and  the 
church.  Get  homes  and  lands,  however  humble  they 
may  be.  Touch  not  the  bowl  whose  contents  degrade 
humanity." 

At  Goldsborougli,  N.C.,the  white  people  manifested  signs 
of  animosity  ;  and  one  rebel  declared  that  he  should  like 
to  put  a  bullet  through  his  head.  He  spoke,  however, 
with  fearlessness,  and  no  violence  was  attempted. 

At  Wilmington,  N.O.,  which  he  reached  on  the  first 
day  of  May,  he  met  with  an  enthusiastic  reception.  The 
public  buildings  were  decorated  with  the  national  flag, 
streamers,  &c.  ;  and  mottoes  were  suspended  across  the 
streets  in  many  places.  A  procession  of  the  colored 


SOUTHERN  TOUR.  383 

men  was  formed  with  music,  and  marched  to  Dudley's 
Grove,  a  short  distance  from  the  city,  where  a  public 
meeting  was  held.  Among  the  mottoes  noticed  upon  the 
banners  borne  in  the  procession  was  the  following: 
"  Equal  rights  before  the  law :  we  will  ask  no  more  ;  we 
will  take  no  less." 

Gen.  Estes  was  president  of  the  meeting.  Resolutions 
were  adopted,  thanking  Congress  for  passing  the  Military 
Reconstruction  Bill ;  promising  to  reconstruct  North 
Carolina  with  loyal  men  ;  to  give  colored  men  the  right 
to  sit  on  juries  ;  and  to  secure  rights  and  privileges  for 
the  poor  white  men  by  establishing  a  Republican  party 
in  the  State. 

Mr.  Wilson  spoke  about  two  hours.  He  declared  that 
the  Republican  party  was  not  responsible  for  one  life  lost 
in  the  war ;  but,  before  God  and  history,  the  supporters 
of  slavery  were  responsible  for  every  life  sacrificed  and 
every  dollar  spent  in  it.  He  invited  the  colored  people 
to  vote  with  the  Republican  party,  declaring  it  vitally 
important  that  there  should  be  no  black  party  or  white 
party  formed. 

In  reply  to  Mr.  Robinson,  editor  of  "  The  Despatch," 
who  endeavored  to  throw  the  responsibility  of  the  war 
upon  antislavery  agitators,  Mr.  Wilson  declared  that  the 
abolition  of  slavery  by  the  General  Government  was  the 
result  of  the  Rebellion.  He  congratulated  Mr.  Robinson 
upon  the  change  already  effected  in  his  views  by  his 
willingness  to  have  the  colored  people  educated  ;  and 
thought,  that,  in  a  few  months  more,  Mr.  Robinson  would 
be  fully  affiliated  with  the  Republican  party. 

As  to  colored  men  not  holding  commissions  in  the 
colored  army,  he  declared  that  his  own  son,  who  died 
recently,  served  as  a  lieutenant,  captain,  and  lieutenant 


384  LIFE  OF  HENRY   WILSON. 

colonel  in  a  regiment  whose  major  was  as  black  as  any 
man  in  the  audience. 

He  arrived  at  Charleston,  S.O.,  on  the  second  day  of 
May,  where  he  was  cordially  received  by  many  distin 
guished  citizens.  He  addressed  a  vast  audience  on  Cita 
del  Green,  and  was  serenaded  in  the  evening.  He  visited 
and  .addressed  the  citizens  of  Savannah  and  Augusta, 
Ga.,  Montgomery,  Ala.  (May  11),  and  New  Orleans  ;  and, 
although  he  was  sharply  questioned  by  the  disloyal  men, 
he  was,  in  general,  heard  with  attention,  and  treated  with 
courtesy  and  respect.  In  a  letter  dated  New  Orleans, 
June  3,  1867,  Gen.  James  Longstreet  said  of  him,  "  I 
was  much  pleased  to  have  the  opportunity  to  hear 
Senator  Wilson,  and  was  agreeably  surprised  to  meet 
such  fairness  and  frankness  in  a  politician  whom  I  have 
been  taught  to  believe  uncompromisingly  opposed  to  the 
white  people  of  the  South." 

Mr.  Wilson's  impressions  of  the  South  were  favorable  ; 
and,  on  arriving  home,  he  spoke  hopefully  of  the  future 
prospects  of  the  Southern  people. 

His  friend  Mr.  Pierce  had  invited  him  to  embark  for 
Europe  on  the  nineteenth  day  of  June  ;  but  the  con 
tinued  illness  of  Mrs.  Wilson  led  him  to  postpone  his 
foreign  tour. 

Still  distrusting  the  policy  of  the  president,  Congress, 
after  taking  a  recess,  assembled  on  the  third  day  of  July, 
1867 ;  when  Mr.  Wilson  introduced  a  bill  vacating  the 
offices  held  under  the  pretended  State  governments,  and 
for  other  purposes,  which  was  not  carried.  His  amend 
ment  authorizing  district  commanders  to  appoint  civil 
ians  to  perform  the  duties  of  persons  removed  from 
office  was,  however,  incorporated  in  Mr.  TrumbulFs  bill, 
which  became  a  law  over  the  veto  of  Mr.  Johnson  on  the 


CONVENTION  AT  WOECESTEB.  385 

19th  of  July,  1867.  "  The  passage  of  the  bill,"  said 
Mr.  Wilson,  "would  complete  the  work  of  restoration. 
I  rise  now,"  continued  he,  "  to  express  the  hope,  that, 
throughout  that  part  of  our  country,  men  of  all  parties 
and  of  all  sentiments  and  feelings  will  clearly  under 
stand,  that,  if  they  comply  with  the  terms  and  conditions 
of  these  three  reconstruction  laws  honestly  and  faith 
fully,  all  obstacles  will  be  removed,  and  they  will  be 
admitted  into  these  chambers." 

On  the  llth  of  September  Mr.  Wilson  was  chosen 
president  of  the  Republican  Convention  at  Worcester, 
and,  on  taking  the  chair,  presented  his  views  of  the  con 
dition  of  the  country  in  an  earnest  and  felicitous  speech, 
during  which  he  paid  the  following  compliment  to  the 
gallant  Gen.  Sheridan  :  — 

"  Not  appeased  by  striking  down  the  great  war 
secretary,  Andrew  Johnson  has  laid  his  hand  of  violence 
on  that  brilliant,  honored,  and  loved  soldier,  Philip  H. 
Sheridan,  whose  record  in  the  field  glitters  with  glorious 
achievements,  whose  record  in  the  fifth  military  district 
is  instinct  with  patriotism  and  justice.  This  brilliant 
hero  of  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  and  of  battle 
fields  made  immortal  by  his  genius  and  valor,  is  sent 
from  his  department,  hurried  away  to  the  distant  plains, 
to  the  gorges  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  chase  the  wild 
Indian,  with  an  admonition  that  his  energies  will  there 
find  a  fitting  field  for  action.  Time,  it  is  said,  brings 
about  its  revenges.  Perhaps  it  may  so  happen  that  an 
outraged  nation,  that  is  master  of  presidents,  congresses, 
and  generals,  may  bid  this  man  —  drunk  at  least  with 
unreasoning  passion  —  descend  from  that  lofty  position 
from  which  he  smites  down  her  honored  statesman  and 
her  brilliant  general,  and  go  back  to  that  famous  Ten- 

33 


386  LIFE  OF  HENKY  WILSON. 

nessee  village,  where  his  abilities  will  find  an  appro 
priate  sphere  of  action  in  filling  once  again  the  office  of 
village  alderman.  It  is  not  given  to  men  of  the  capacity 
or  character  of  Andrew  Johnson,  however  lifted  up  to 
exalted  positions,  to  belittle  Edwin  M.  Stanton  or  Philip 
H.  Sheridan.  The  illustrious  commander  of  our  army, 
who  is  now  enduring  the  burden  imposed  by  patriotism, 
as  did  his  predecessor  through  weary  months,  uttered  the 
voice  of  loyal  America  when  he  expressed  his  apprecia 
tion  of  the  '  zeal,  patriotism^  firmness,  and  ability  '  with 
which  Edwin  M.  Stanton  had  discharged  the  duties  of 
secretary  of  war.  I  remember,  too,  —  for  I  could  not  for 
get  it,  —  the  generous  tribute  the  same  great  commander 
paid  a  few  weeks  ago  to  the  genius  of  Sheridan.  '  The 
people,'  he  said,  '  do  not  fully  appreciate  Sheridan.  I 
think  him  the  greatest  soldier  the  war  developed.  Were 
we  to  have  a  great  war,  and  to  call  out  a  million  of  men, 
I  think  Sheridan  the  best  fitted  to  command  them. 
Some  persons  say  I  have  done  a  great  deal  for  him  ;  but 
I  never  did  any  thing  for  him:  -he  has  done  much  for 
me.'  Such  is  the  statesman  and  such  is  the  general 
Andrew  Johnson  has  thrust  from  posts  of  duty,  and 
striven  to  disgrace." 

He  closed  by  this  hopeful  view  of  the  republic :  — 
"If  the  Republicans  of  Massachusetts  and  of  other 
States  subordinate  minor  issues,  personal  ambitions  and 
interests,  and  rise  to  the  full  comprehension  of  the  high 
duties  now  imposed  upon  them,  the  complete  unity  of 
the  country,  and  the  perfect  equality  of  the  rights  of  the 
people,  will  speedily  come.  Then  the  republic,  redeemed 
and  purified,  the  people  free  to  run  the  race  and  win  the 
glittering  prizes  of  life,  will  daily  illustrate  the  power 
and  beauty  of  free  institutions.  Then  the  people  of  the 


SPEECH  AT   MABLBOEOUGH.  387 

North  and  the  people  of  the  South  will  vie  with  each 
other  in  fidelity  to  the  country,  and  devotion  to  liberty. 
Then  the  bitter  memories  of  the  stern  conflicts  of  civil 
war  will  fade  away  in  the  prosperity  and  renown  of  the 
great  republic.  Then  the  sons  of  patriots  and  the  sons 
of  rebels,  whose  fathers  fought  and  fell  on  bloody  fields, 
will  glory  in  the  name  and  fame  of  their  common  coun 
try,  and  cherish,  honor,  and  love  their  countrymen. 
Inspired  by  these  lofty  purposes,  animated  by  these 
exalted  hopes,  we,  the  Republicans  of  old  Massachusetts, 
here  and  now  call  the  battle-roll  anew,  and  move  for 
ward  to  the  conflicts  of  the  future  with  the  light  of 
victory  on  our  faces." 

Though  detained  at  home  considerably  this  season  to 
watch  at  the  bedside  of  his  sick  wife,  Mr.  Wilson  made 
many  public  speeches  on  behalf  of  temperance  in  various 
towns  and  cities  of  this  State.  In  a  grand  address  at 
Marlborough  in  November,  he  said,  — 

"  I  was  born  in  a  section  of  the  country  where  New- 
England  rum  was  used  at  births  and  at  funerals ;  used  to 
keep  out  the  heat  of  summer  and  the  cold  of  winter  ; 
sold  openly  at  the  cross-road  groceries,  where  too  many 
of  the  companions  of  my  boyhood  were  wont  to  assemble, 
instead  of  going  to  lyceums  and  associations  for  mental 
and  moral  improvement,  and  spend  their  evenings  in 
drinking  poor  rum.  I  have  seen  the  effects  of  the  use 
of  intoxicating  liquors  on  the  farm,  in  the  workshop,  and 
in  the  halls  of  legislation.  I  have  found  that  in  the 
field  in  the  heats  of  summer,  in  the  forests  in  winter,  in 
the  mechanic's  shop,  in  our  own  State  legislature,  in 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  everywhere,  the 
men  who  use  intoxicating  drinks  are  the  first  to  fail  in 
the  performance  of  duty.  During  fourteen  sessions  in 


388  LIFE   OF   HENEY  WILSON. 

the  Senate  of  the  United  States  I  have  witnessed  many 
severe  contests,  lasting  through  the  hours  of  the  night 
until  daylight  streamed  into  the  windows ;  and  I  have 
always  found  that  the  men  who  resorted  to  intoxicating 
liquids  for  strength  found  weakness, —  were  always  the 
first  to  retire  to  their  rooms  or  their  homes." 

During  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1868,  Mr.  Wilson 
heartily  advocated  the  election  of  Gen.  Grant  and  the 
course  of  the  Republican  party.  On  the  27th  of  August 
he  spoke  to  a  vast  throng  in  Bangor,  Me.,  on  what  the 
Republican  and  Democratic  parties  have  done,  and  what 
they  propose  to  do.  Referring  to  what  the  former  organi 
zation  had  accomplished,  he  said,  — 

"  It  was  said  of  Wilberforce  that  he  went  to  God  with 
the  shackles  of  eight  hundred  thousand  West-India 
slaves  in  his  hands.  The  Republican  party  enters  the 
forum  of  the  nations  with  four  million  and  a  half  of 
riven  fetters  in  one  hand,  and  four  million  and  a  half  of 
title-deeds  of  American  citizenship  in  the  other.  These 
broken  fetters,  these  title-deeds,  it  holds  up  to  the  gaze 
of  the  living  present  and  the  advancing  future.  In  the 
progress  of  the  ages,  it  has  been  given  to  few  generations, 
in  any  form  or  by  any  modes,  to  achieve  a  work  so  vast, 
so  grand,  so  sure  to  be  recorded  by  the  historic  pen,  or 
flung  upon  the  canvas  in  enduring  colors.  Defeat  and 
disaster  may  come  upon  the  Republican  party ;  it  may 
perish  utterly  from  the  land  it  saved  and  made  free : 
but  its  name  will  be  forever  associated  with  the  emanci 
pation  of  millions  of  a  poor,  friendless,  and  hated  race, 
their  elevation  to  the  heights  of  citizenship,  their  exalta 
tion  to  equality  of  civil  rights  and  privileges,  and,  crown 
ing  act  of  all,  the  prerogative  c  to  vote  and  to  be  voted 
for.'  These  beneficent  deeds  will  live  in  the  hearts  of 


SPEECH  AT   BANGOR. 

coming  generations,  and  '  brighter  glow  and  gleam  im 
mortal,  uncons timed  by  moth  or  rust.' ' 

Speaking  of  the  coming  contest,  he  said,  —  and  his 
prediction  time  and  events  have  verified,  — 

"  In  November  there  is  to.be  another  struggle  between 
these  two  parties  for  the  control  of  the  national  adminis 
tration.  The  Republican  party  met  at  Chicago,  re 
affirmed  its  policy  of  reconstruction,  pronounced  against 
all  forms  of  repudiation,  for  the  reduction  and  equaliza 
tion  of  taxation,  for  the  equal  protection  of  American 
citizens,  for  the  recognized  obligations  to  our  soldiers 
and  to  the  widows  and  orphans  of  the  gallant  dead,  and 
for  the  removal  of  restrictions  imposed  upon  rebels  as 
rapidly  as  the  safety  of  the  loyal  people  will  admit.  The 
convention  than  presented  the  name  of  Gen.  Grant, 
the  great  captain  who  has  so  often  marshalled  our 
armies  to  victory ;  and  Schuyler  Colfax,  a  statesman  of 
pure  life,  stainless  honor,  and  commanding  influence. 
If  success  crowns  its  efforts,  if  the  administration  shall 
be  intrusted  to  Gen.  Grant,  with  a  House  of  Repre 
sentation  to  sustain  that  administration,  the  policy  of 
reconstruction  will  be  perfected,  the  States  will  all  be 
speedily  restored  to  their  practical  relations  to  the  Gen 
eral  Government,  equal  rights  will  be  assured  and  dis 
abilities  removed,  the  nation's  faith  will  be  untarnished, 
its  currency  and  credit  improved,  and  « Peace,'  in  the 
language  of  Mr.  Lincoln, '  will  come  to  stay.'  Then  the 
blood  poured  out  like  autumnal  rains  will  not  have  been 
shed  in  vain ;  for  then  united  and  free  America,  with 
liberty  for  all  and  justice  to  all,  will  enter  upon  a  career 
of  development,  culture,  and  progress,  that  shall  insure  a 
'  future  grand  and  great.'  " 

His  speech  in  Faneuil  Hall  on  the  14th  of  October  most 

33* 


390  LIFE   OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

clearly  exhibits  him  as  an  earnest,  strong,  and  sensible 
defender  of  the  interests  of  the  working-people.  He  stands 
upon  the  side,  as  he  has  ever  done,  of  those  who  bear  the 
heat  and  burden  of  the  day.  He  said,  — 

"  To  provide  for  the  expenses  of  that  Democratic  re 
bellion,  the  Republican  party  were  compelled  to  take  the 
responsibility  of  arranging  a  system  of  taxation ;  and  they 
so  adjusted  that  taxation  as  to  make  the  burden  bear  as 
lightly  as  possible  on  the  productive  interests  of  the  coun 
try  and  upon  the  working-men  of  the  country.  More 
than  one-half  of  the  duties  levied  on  imports  are  assessed 
on  wines,  brandies,  silks,  velvets,  laces,  and  other  articles 
of  luxury,  chiefly  consumed  by  the  more  wealthy  portion 
of  our  countrymen.  The  duties  imposed  on  the  neces 
saries  of  life  —  upon  tea,  coffee,  sugar,  and  other  articles 
entering  into  the  consumption  of  the  masses  of  the  people 
—  are  made  as  low  as  possible  ;  and  discrimination  is  made 
in  favor  of  our  mechanical  and  manufacturing  industry. 

"  The  Republican  party  spurns  this  Democratic  doc 
trine  of  taxing  every  species  of  property  according  to  its 
value.  It  believes  in  discriminating  in  favor  of  poor, 
toiling  men,  and  of  putting  the  burden  of  taxation  on 
accumulated  capital  and  large  incomes.  In  time  of  war, 
when  the  nation  needed  money  so  much,  the  Republi 
cans  exempted  nineteen  out  of  every  twenty  dollars  of 
the  incomes  of  the  people.  This  was  done  to  relieve  the 
working-men,  whose  small  incomes  were  required  for  the 
support  of  their  families  and  the  education  of  their  chil 
dren.  We  exempted  all  incomes  under  six  hundred 
dollars  ;  and  this  exemption  included  the  incomes  of 
nearly  all  the  laboring-men,  mechanics,  and  small  farm 
ers,  of  the  country.  We  taxed  all  incomes  from  six 
hundred  to  five  thousand  dollars  five  per  cent,  and  all 


SPEECH  IN  FANEUIL  HALL.  391 

incomes  over  five  thousand  dollars  ten  per  cent.  That 
was  not  equal  taxation  :  but  it  was  just  taxation  ;  for 
it  was  based  on  the  sound  policy  of  putting  the  burden 
upon  capital,  and  taking  the  burden  from  labor.  Now 
we  have  taken  the  tax  from  all  incomes  less  than  a 
thousand  dollars,  and  we  tax  all  incomes  above  a  thou 
sand  dollars  five  per  cent,  thus  relieving  the  working- 
men  and  nearly  all  the  mechanics  and  farmers  from 
taxation  on  incomes.  We  Republicans  intend  to  stand 
or  fall  by  this  policy,  which  discriminates  in  favor  of  the 
poor,  the  mechanics,  the  small  farmers,  and  the  working- 
men,  of  the  country.  We  serve  notice  on  the  Democratic 
party,  on  all  the  supporters  of  this  anti-democratic  doc 
trine  of  the  equal  taxation  of  every  species  of  property 
according  to  its  value,  that  we  Republicans  will  never 
agree  to  the  taxation  of  the  little  earnings  of  working- 
men  at  the  same  rate  we  tax  the  incomes  of  the  Stewarts 
and  the  Astors,  the  great  corporations  and  capitalists,  of 
the  country.  We  give  the  Democracy  notice  that  we 
will  never  tax  sugar,  coffee,  and  tea  at  the  same  rates 
we  tax  silks  and  wines  and  brandies  ;  that  we  will  never 
tax  a  gallon  of  milk  as  high  as  we  tax  a  gallon  of 
whiskey.  We  give  the  Democracy  notice  that  we  will 
not  tax  the  tools  of  the  mechanic,  the  horse  of  the  dray 
man,  the  little  homes  and  farms  of  the  poor,  and  the 
incomes  of  working-men  needed  for  the  support  of  them 
selves  and  the  support  of  their  households.  We  Repub 
licans  will  never  consent  to  the  putting  of  the  burdens  of 
the  government  equally  on  the  small  accumulations  of 
the  poor  and  the  great  capitals  and  large  interests  of  tho 
country.  That  is  the  position  of  the  Republican  party ; 
and  it  is  a  position  in  favor  of  the  productive  interests  of 
the  nation  and  the  interests  of  the  working-men :  and  we 


392  LIFE   OF   HENEY  WILSON. 

Republicans  mean  to  stand  by  it,  or  fall  by  it ;  live  by  it, 
or  die  by  it.  Every  laboring-man  in  America,  every 
mechanic,  every  farmer,  and  every  business-man,  who 
desires  to  develop  the  mighty  resources  of  this  country, 
and  carry  it  upward  and  onward  in  a  career  of  power  and 
prosperity,  should  trample  upon  this  democratic  doctrine 
of  equal  taxation,  which  is  against  labor,  and  in  favor  of 
capital ;  against  the  loyal,  and  in  favor  of  the  disloyal, 
portions  of  the  land." 

Inured  to  steady  and  persistent  intellectual  labor, 
Mr.  Wilson  finds  in  it  his  chief  delight.  To  him  idle 
ness  is  misery.  He  is  a  working-man,  who  believes  in 
actual  work :  and  his  system  being,  by  his  temperate 
habits,  always  in  good  working-order,  he  turns  off  work 
with  astonishing  ease  and  celerity ;  work,  too,  that  has 
a  meaning  and  a  purpose,  —  guiding  legislators  in  their 
course,  and  enriching  the  historical  literature  of  his 
country.  In  addition  to  his  official  and  public  labors 
this  year  (1868),  he  published  a  handsome  volume  of 
four  hundred  and  sixty-seven  pages,  entitled  "  The  His 
tory  of  the  Reconstruction  Measures  of  the  Thirty-ninth 
and  Fortieth  Congresses,  1865-1868.  By  Henry  Wil 
son."  In  this  important  work  the  author  traces  vividly 
the  course  of  legislation  during  those  eventful  years 
which  followed  the  collapse  of  the  Rebellion,  and  the 
contest  between  Congress  and  the  president  on  the  vari 
ous  questions  growing  out  of  the  reconstruction  of  the 
Confederate  States.  "  My  purpose  in  this  work,"  the 
author  says,  "  has  been  to  narrate  with  brevity  and  im 
partiality  Uiis  legislation  of  Congress,  and  to  give  the 
positions,  opinions,  and  feelings  of  the  actors  in  these 
great  measures  of  legislation."  In  the  treatment  of  his 
subject  he  brings  forward  in  proprid  persond  the  differ* 


RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES.  393 

ent  speakers, —  Sumner,  Trumbull,  Fessenden,  Wilson, 
Davis,  Hendricks,  Howe,  and  others,  —  and  presents 
them  as  they  introduced,  opposed,  or  advocated  meas 
ures  in  the  legislative  chambers.  The  very  words  of  the 
disputants  are  given,  which  imparts  dramatic  interest  to 
the  subject,  and  makes  interesting  what  otherwise  might, 
except  to  a  statesman,  prove  dull  reading.  The  com 
batants  stand  forth  prominently  on  the  canvas :  the  blow 
of  every  champion  is  made  manifest.  When  the  author 
himself  speaks,  the  style  is  manly,  clear,  and  forcible, — 
an  evident  advance  upon  his  former  record  as  a  writer. 
To  the  student  of  our  political  history  this  book  is  in 
valuable,  bringing  the  subject  -  matter  on  the  great 
questions  before  the  Thirty-ninth  and  Fortieth  Con 
gresses,  which  runs  through  several  thousand  pages  of 
"  The  Congressional  Globe,"  into  the  compass  of  a  single 
portable  volume.  The  reconstruction  of  the  Confederate 
States  demanded  comprehensive  views  of  the  condition 
of  the  country,  generous  sympathies,  and  decisive  action  ; 
and  strong  men  who  took  the  lead  in  legislation  through 
the  war  came  up  with  fearless  front  to  resist  the  policy 
of  the  executive,  and  save  the  nation  from  the  rule  of 
rebels.  As  an  impartial  record  of  this  struggle  by  one 
who  himself  bore  no  unimportant  part  in  it,  Mr.  Wil 
son's  book  will  doubtless  ever  hold  a  prominent  place  in 
legislative  history. 

The  home  of  Mr.  Wilson  was  enlivened  on  the  25th  of 
December,  1868,  by  the  marriage  of  Lieut.  Alexander 
L.  Smith,  who  was  in  Gen.  Sherman's  army  when  he 
made  his  grand  march  to  the  sea,  and  Miss  Annette 
Howe,  a  daughter  of  one  of  Mrs.  Wilson's  brothers,  and 
an  estimable  young  lady. 

During  the  Fortieth  and  Forty-first  Congresses  Mr. 


394  LIFE  OF   HENKY  WILSON. 

Wilson  was  steadily  engaged  in  framing  and  carrying 
important  measures  for  the  public  good.  Among  them 
may  be  mentioned  a  bill  to  amend  the  elective  franchise 
of  the  District  of  Columbia ;  a  bill  for  the  reduction 
of  the  army ;  a  bill  to  equalize  distribution  of  banking 
capital ;  a  joint  resolution  as  to  the  management  of  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau,  —  of  the  Fortieth ;  and  bills  to 
establish  a  line  of  steamships  ;  to  appoint  a  commission  to 
examine  claims  of  loyal  persons  for  supplies  ;  to  grant  two 
million  acres  of  land  for  education  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia  ;  to  remove  disabilities  from  persons  engaged  in 
the  Rebellion ;  to  grant  increase  of  pensions  to  widows 
of  officers;  and  joint  resolutions  granting  Lincoln  Hos 
pital  to  Columbia  Hospital  for  women,  and  respecting 
pay  of  enlisted  men,  —  of  the  Forty-first  Congress.  On 
these  and  many  other  measures  Mr.  Wilson  made  remarks 
evincing  great  legislative  experience  and  ability.  The 
pages  of  "  The  Congressional  Globe  "  bear  constant 
testimony  to  his  senatorial  industry  and  efficiency.  His 
eyes  were  ever  open  to  watch,  his  tongue  was  ever 
ready  to  defend,  the  rights  of  the  injured  and  op 
pressed.  No  senator  ever  framed  and  carried  so  many 
bills  through  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  as  Mr. 
Wilson ;  and  some  of  them  are  the  most  important 
ever  enacted  in  this  country.  In  his  management  of 
measures  in  the  Senate  he  has  shown  the  practical  good 
sense  of  a  sound  and  accomplished  statesman.  When 
he  has  found  it  impossible  to  carry  a  measure  as 
first  presented,  he  has  been  willing  to  accept  such  modi 
fication  or  substitute  as  might  secure  its  passage  ; 
consenting  willingly  that  another  should  receive  the 
credit,  if  by  any  change  or  compromise  the  end  could  be 
obtained.  His  idea  has  been,  that  one  step  in  advance 


HIS  SUCCESS   AS  A  STATESMAN.  395 

is  better  than  no  progress  :  so  that,  while  others  have  in 
sisted  on  the  whole  or  nothing,  he  has  accepted  the  best  he 
could  at  the  time  secure  ;  and,  gaining  that,  he  has  often 
found  himself  in  a  position  to  gain  the  whole.  His  bill 
for  the  soldiers'  bounties  finally  appeared  in  another  form, 
under  another  name,  and  for  a  lower  sum  than  he  pro 
posed  ;  but  he  rejoiced  that  eighty  millions  were  secured, 
though  his  original  measure  was  defeated. 

His  method  is  to  throw  himself  out  of  the  question, 
and  to  support  a  measure  on  its  own  merits :  and  this,  in 
part,  accounts  for  his  success  ;  for  a  statesman  attempting 
to  carry  himself  with  his  measures  generally  finds  him- 
self  overborne  by  the  burden. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

DEATH  OF  MES.  WILSON. — VISIT  TO  EUROPE. — 
WHITINGS.  —  NOMINATION.  — ELECTION. 

Mrs.  Wilson's  Death  and  Character.  —  Mrs.  Ames's  Opinion.  —  Visit  to 
Europe. — American  Missionary  Society. — Rise  and  Fall  of  the 
Slave-Power.  — Extract.  — Nomination  as  Vice-President.  —  Letter 
of  Acceptance. —Address  at  Boston.  —  Regard  for  the  Memory  of 
Mrs.  Wilson.  —  Visit  to  North  Carolina  and  Virginia.  —  Regret  for 
One  Expression.  —  American  Party  and  Credit  Mobilier.  —  Mr.  Surn- 
ner's  Course  regretted. — Election  as  Vice-President.  —  His  Poverty. 

IN  May,  1870,  Mr.  Wilson  was  brought  into  profound 
affliction  by  the  decease  of  his  beloved  wife,  who  for 
many  months  had  been  sinking  under  an  incurable  dis 
ease.  At  the  close  of  the  28th  she  passed  peacefully 
away ;  and  those  who  stood  around  her  dying-bed  then 
realized  the  meaning  of  the  words,  "  He  giveth  his 
beloved  sleep." 

An  address  was  made  at  her  funeral  in  the  church  by 
the  Rev.  Edmund  Dowse ;  and  her  remains,  in  a  casket 
covered  with  flowers,  and  followed  by  a  long  concourse 
of  sincere  mourners,  were  borne  to  the  Dell-park  Ceme 
tery,  where  they  repose  beside  those  of  her  only  son. 

Mrs.  Wilson  was  a  woman  of  rare  gentleness,  earnest 
in  purpose,  unassuming  in  manner,  ever  blessing  those 
around  her  by  her  words  and  deeds  of  love.  Early  in 
life  she  became  a  Christian  ;  and  she  united  with  the 
Congregational  church  at  Natick  on  the  fifth  day  of 
December,  1852.  Whether  moving  in  the  fashionable 

IN 


CHARACTER   OF   MRS.    WILSON.  397 

society  at  Washington,  or  in  the  quiet  circle  of  her  home, 
she  was  ever  a  bright  ornament  of  the  doctrines  she  pro 
fessed.  Her  sufferings,  though  severe,  she  bore  without 
a  murmur  or  complaint,  and  shed  the  light  of  a  sanctified 
and  loving  heart  upon  her  friends  and  kindred  to  the  last. 
In  her  elevation,  she  did  not  cast  off,  as  many  do,  the 
companions  of  early  days  ;  and  they  will  always  bear 
among  the  richest  treasures  of  the  memory  the  smile  and 
the  tear  of  her  sympathy  and  affection. 

"  Into  the  sacred  privacy  of  that  wifely  devotion  which 
she  always  manifested,"  says  one  who  knew  her  ex 
cellence,  "  we  may  not  intrude  :  but  it  can  at  least  be 
said,  that  she  was  all  that  the  heart  could  desire  a 
Christian  wife  to  be  ;  and  eternity  alone  can  reveal  how 
great  was  her  influence  upon,  the  companion  of  her  life, 
whose  feet  she,  more  than  any  other  human  instrumen 
tality,  led  to  the  cross  of  Christ." 

Another  writer  said  of  her,  "  For  thirty  years  she  has 
been  of  rare  service  to  her  husband  in  all  sweet  and 
wifely  qualities.  Of  true  instincts,  unobtrusive  piety,  un 
tiring  benevolence,  and  equal  temperament,  ever  a  lover 
of  justice,  she  was  alike  guide  and  inspirer  to  her  hus 
band,  whose  long,  distinguished,  and  honorable  career  is, 
in  no  small  degree,  due  to  her  discreet  and  loving  co 
operation." 

Her  character  is  thus  portrayed  by  Mrs.  Mary  Clemmer 
Ames  :  — 

u  Within  the  last  week,  the  body  of  one  has  been  laid 
in  her  native  earth  whose  lovely  presence  will  long  be 
missed  in  Washington.  Mrs.  Wilson,  the  wife  of  Senator 
Wilson,  went  out  from  among  us  in  the  fair  May  days ; 
and  the  places  which  have  known  her  here  so  long  and  so 
pleasantly,  will  know  her,  save  in  memory,  no  more  for. 

34 


398  LIFE  OP  HENKY   WILSON. 

ever.  She  was  a  gentle,  Christian  woman.  I  have  never 
yet  found  words  rich  enough  to  tell  all  that  such  a  woman 
is.  My  pen  lingers  lovingly  upon  her  name.  I  would 
fain  say  something  of  her  who  now  lives  beyond  the  meed 
of  all  human  praise  that  would  make  her  example  more 
beautiful  and  enduring  to  the  living.  For,  in  profounder 
intellectual  development  resulting  from  wider  culture  and 
larger  opportunity,  are  we  in  no  danger  of  losing  sight  of 
those  graces  of  the  spirit,  which,  however  exalted  her  fate, 
must  remain  to  the  end  the  supreme  charm  of  woman? 
There  is  nothing  in  all  the  universe  so  sweet  as  a  Chris 
tian  woman ;  as  she  who  has  received  into  her  heart,  till 
it  shines  forth  in  her  character  and  life,  the  love  of  the 
divine  Master. 

"  Such  a  woman  was  Mrs.  Wilson  in  this  gay  capital. 
When  great  sorrow  fell  upon  her,  and  ceaseless  suffering, 
the  light  from  the  heavenly  places  fell  upon  her  face : 
with  an  angel  patience,  and  a  childlike  smile,  and  an  un 
faltering  faith,  she  went  down  into  the  valley  of  shadows. 
She  possessed  a  keen  and  wide  intelligence.  She  was 
conversant  with  public  questions,  and  interested  in  all 
those  movements  of  the  day  in  which  her  husband  takes 
so  prominent  a  part.  Retiring  by  nature,  she  avoided 
instinctively  all  ostentatious  display  ;  but,  where  help  and 
encouragement  were  needed  by  another,  the  latent  power 
of  her  character  sprang  into  life,  and  then  she  proved 
herself  equal  to  great  executive  effort.  No  one  can  praise 
her  so  eloquently  as  he  who  loved  her  and  knew  her  best. 
To  hear  Senator  Wilson  speak  of  his  wife  when  he  taught 
her,  a  little  girl  in  school ;  when  he  married  her,  '  the 
loveliest  girl  in  all  the  county ; '  when  he  received  into 
his  heart  the  fragrance  of  her  daily  example ;  when  he 
watched  over  her  dying,  only  to  marvel  at  the  endurance 


CHARACTER  OF  MRS.   WILSON.  399 

and  sweetness  and  sunshine  of  her  patience,  —  is  to  learn 
what  a  force  for  spiritual  development,  what  a  ceaseless 
inspiration,  was  this  wife  to  her  husband.  Precious  to 
those  who  live  is  the  legacy  of  such  a  life." 

Mr.  Wilson  regarded  his  wife  and  always  spoke  of  her 
with  most  affectionate  tenderness.  He  fully  appreciated 
and  revered  her  excellences.  To  him  her  word  and  her 
wishes  were  sacred.  Her  departure  filled  his  heart  with 
unutterable  grief;  and  the  dark  cloud  of  that  bereave 
ment  still  casts  its  shadow  over  his  pathway.  But  he  has 
the  hope  of  the  Christian,  which  alone  can  give  the  cloud 
a  "  silver  lining." 

In  a  letter  in  response  to  an  invitation  to  the  "  Gather 
ing  of  the  Howe  Family,"  held  in  Framingharn,  Aug.  31, 
1871,  he  thus  touchingly  alludes  to  her :  — 

"  I  regret,  and  shall  long  continue  to  regret,  that  I  was 
not  permitted  on  that  occasion  to  mingle  with  those  who 
bear  the  name  of  one  endeared  to  me  by  the  holiest  and 
tenderest  ties  of  earth  ;  of  one  of  the  purest  and  loveli 
est  spirits  that  ever  blessed  kindred  and  friends  by  her 
presence,  or  left,  in  passing  through  death  to  a  higher  life, 
more  precious  memories." 

In  the  memorial  of  that  meeting  the  author  says,  "  Mrs. 
Wilson  was  a  lady  of  unusual  mental  and  personal  attrac 
tions,  blending  grace  with  dignity  in  manner,  and  orna 
menting,  both  in  private  and  in  public  life,  the  doctrines 
of  her  Lord  and  Master." 

None  but  him  that  has  followed  the  light  of  the  house 
hold  to  the  silent  grave  can  know  the  desolation  of  a  de 
serted  home.  To  relieve  his  mind  from  the  sad  memo 
ries  which  every  object  tended  to  awaken,  Mr.  Wilson 
decided  to  spend  the  summer  of  1871  abroad.  Leaving 
New  York  in  "  The  Scotia  "  on  the  7th  of  June,  he 


400  LIFE  OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

had  a  prosperous  voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  anil  was 
somewhat  "  lionized  "  by  the  passengers,  as  one  ol  them 
has  written,  on  the  way.  The  writer  adds,  u  He  spoke  to 
me  with  feeling  of  the  virtues  of  one  whom  he  had  lost, 
of  her  sickness  and  her  death ;  showed  me  the  picture 
of  her  face  ;  and  expressed  the  hope  that  he  should  meet 
her  in  the  skies." 

Mr.  Wilson  did  not  visit  Europe  to  study  art,  to  gain 
receptions,  or  to  hunt  for  kings.  He  was,  however, 
kindly  received  by  Mr.  Gladstone,  Thomas  Hughes-,  and 
other  eminent  men.  He  had  the  pleasure  of  spending 
several  days  in  the  British  Parliament,  as  well  as  in 
the  French  National  Assembly,  and  of  listening  to  the 
debates.  The  plain  and  sensible  style  of  speaking  of 
the  former  body  he  admired.  With  the  exception  of  the 
strong  and  fervid  Spurgeon,  the  English  preachers  did 
not  please  him,  their  manner  being  too  monotonous  and 
scholastic. 

He  travelled  over  six  thousand  miles  in  Europe,  visiting 
Amsterdam,  Berlin  (where  he  was  cordially  received), 
Vienna,  and  many  other  cities  ;  noticing  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  people,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  the  working 
of  the  different  educational,  religious,  and  political  sys 
terns. 

Never  had  the  liberal  institutions  of  America  appeared 
more  glorious  to  him  than  when,  after  this  survey  of 
foreign  life,  he  breathed  again  the  air  of  freedom.  Dur 
ing  his  absence  he  wrote  once  a  week  to  Mrs.  Howe, 
the  mother  of  his  departed  wife,  who  now,  though  over 
eighty  years  of  age,  presides  over  his  household  with 
dignity  and  grace. 

This  was  the  memorial-year  of  the  American  Missionary 
Association  ;  and  at  the  meeting  in  Hartford,  Oct.  24,  Mr, 


AMERICAN  MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION.  401 

Wilson  made  a  brief  and  vigorous  address,  in  which  he 
presented  his  belief  in  our  common  brotherhood,  and  his 
view  of  the  work  to  be  done  by  the  philanthropists  of 
America :  — 

"  God  has  given  us  the  care  of  this  magnificent  conti 
nental  empire,  broad  and  grand.  It  is  ours,  —  ours  to 
develop  and  improve :  the  responsibility  is  with  us,  —  with 
the  people  of  these  United  States.  These  poor  black  men 
at  the  South  need  our  prayers  and  our  labor ;  they  need 
education,  moral  culture,  and  elevation.  And  they  are 
not  the  only  ones  who  need  it :  there  are  thousands 
of  others,  who  have  been  referred  to  in  the  admirable 
address  to  which  we  have  just  listened, —  others  coming 
from  the  Eastern  world.  Our  gateways  are  open  on  the 
Atlantic  and  on  the  Pacific  coast ;  and  people  will  come 
here.  I  would  bind  my  heart  and  hand,  and  what  little 
I  have  of  property,  and  the  aspirations  of  my  soul,  to 
elevate  humanity.  Every  human  being  who  steps  on 
the  soil  of  the  North- American  republic,  —  no  matter 
where  he  comes  from,  nor  what  blood  runs  in  his  veins, 
nor  what  language  he  speaks,  —  he  is  a  man :  God 
made  him,  and  our  Lord  and  Master  Jesus  Christ  died 
for  him  as  well  as  for  us;  and  it  is  our  duty  to  lift 
him  up.  It  is  our  duty  to  elevate  all  classes  and  con 
ditions  of  men  who  come  to  our  shores.  God  knows  to 
night  there  is  a  mighty  work  to  do.  Look  over  the  broad 
land  to-day,  and  what  do  we  see  ?  It  is  not  alone  the 
poor  negro,  whose  mind  for  long  centuries  has  been  closed 
against  education  and  culture.  Look  at  the  poor  white 
people  of  the  South,  who  were  trampled  down  when  the 
black  men  were  trampled  down.  Look  at  the  master 
class ;  look  at  the  Ku-Kluxes :  they  dishonor  human 
nature  to-night.  I  tell  you,  friends,  we  have  a  work  to 

34* 


402  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

do  in  the  South,  not  only  for  the  black  race,  but  for  ouf 
own  white  race.  Slavery  is  gone  :  but  it  has  left  passions, 
prejudice,  and  ignorance  ;  and  it  is  for  us  to  remove 
them. 

"  Look  at  our  own  country,  —  whole  sections  of  it  dis 
honored  every  day.  Men  abuse  public  stations,  dishonor 
their  names,  and  degrade  their  country.  We  have  exam 
ples  of  this  before  us  to-day  that  astonish  the  world.  Edu 
cation  will  not  cure  this  entirely.  We  want,  with  our 
education,  a  great  deal  of  moral  culture.  We  want  the 
heart  cultivated  as  well  as  the  head.  This  is  the  great 
want  of  the  times. 

"  I  would  make  this  republic  an  honest  example  to 
all  nations.  To  every  philanthropist,  to  every  humble 
Christian,  —  I  would  say  to  all  such,  that,  among  all  the 
benevolent  associations  of  our  country,  this  is  one  of  the 
best,  and  should  have  our  contributions,  our  generous 
support,  and  our  prayers  in  our  closets  on  bended  knees." 

In  the  early  part  of  this  present  year  (1872)  Mr.  Wilson 
published  the  first  volume,  containing  six  hundred  and 
seventy  pages  in  royal  octavo,  of  "  The  History  of  the 
Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave-Power  in  America." 

It  is  indeed  refreshing,  now  that  the  clamor  of  war  has 
subsided  and  the  smoke  of  the  battle-fields  rolled  away,  to 
sit  calmly  down  in  the  sunlight  of  peace,  and  trace  the 
progress  of  that  malignant  power  which  grew  with  the 
nation's  growth  ;  which  fastened  on  the  body  politic, 
until  it  perished  in  the  very  wounds  it  had  itself  in 
flicted.  Human  servitude  was  the  cause  of  our  calamity 
as  a  nation ;  and,  in  rising  up  from  those  calamities, 
we  look  back  upon  them  as  upon  some  fearful  dream. 
With  consummate  ability,  Mr.  Wilson,  in  this  portion 
of  his  work,  presents  the  origin,  progress,  domination, 


THE  SLAVE-POWER  IN  AMERICA.  403 

of  this  power  in  America,  up  to  its  Texan  victory  in 
1844 ;  and  in  the  two  succeeding  volumes,  to  be  pub 
lished  in  1873-4,  will  describe  its  arrogant  assumptions 
up  to  1861,  and  then  its  mighty  struggle  for  existence, 
till  its  final  overthrow  and  extinction  in  the  surrender  of 
the  rebel  arms,  and  reconstruction  of  the  rebel  States. 
No  man  living  has  higher  qualifications  for  such  a  work 
than  Mr.  Wilson.  With  accurate  knowledge  of  our  na 
tional  history ;  with  more  than  thirty  years'  experience 
as  a  legislator ;  with  an  intimate  personal  acquaintance 
with  the  prominent  political  leaders  of  that  period ;  with 
views  enlarged  by  years  of  meditation  on  the  theme,  — 
he  brings  to  the  execution  of  this  great  work  accom 
plishments  which  must  render  it,  when  completed,  one 
of  the  most  valuable  contributions  to  American  history 
ever  made.  Through  the  first  volume  the  hand  of  the 
master  is  visible  on  every  page ;  and,  although  the  mas 
ter  is  of  necessity  a  partisan,  he  has,  in  general,  risen 
above  the  spirit  of  partisanship,  and  ascribed  honor  to 
whom  honor  is  due. 

"  Of  the  living  and  of  the  dead,"  he  says,  "  I  havo 
written  as  though  I  were  to  meet  them  in  the  presence 
of  Him  whose  judgments  are  ever  sure."  To  the  Chris 
tian  patriot  the  author's  constant  reference  to  the  hand 
of  God  in  the  evolution  of  our  national  destiny  is  as 
satisfactory  as  it  is  in  itself  just  and  philosophical.  This, 
he  says,  in  closing  his  first  volume,  should  be  "  a  per 
petual  inspiration  in  the  darkest  hour,  a  perennial  source 
of  faith  and  hope,  of  consolation  and  of  courage."  "  This 
work,"  says  an  able  writer,  "  must  take  first  rank  among 
the  historical  productions  of  the  nineteenth  century;  and 
it  will  give  to  the  author  an  additional  claim  upon  the 
consideration  of  his  countrymen  that  he  has  written  so 


404  LIFE  OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

well  of  that  work  in  which  he  was  one  of  the  chief  actors, 
thus  winning  for  himself  the  position  of  the  scholar  and 
the  historian,  in  addition  to  that  of  the  politician  and  the 
statesman.  He  and  others  have  done  that  which  deserves 
to  be  well  told  ;  and  he  has  told  it  well.  His  words,  like 
his  works,  will  be  immortal,  —  the  just  reward  of  the  ex 
cellence  of  both." 

As  an  example  of  the  author's  imaginative  power,  and 
vigor  of  his  style,  the  closing  page  of  his  chapter  on 
"  The  Amistad  "  captives  may  be  cited.  It  will  be  re 
membered  that  in  1889  these  Africans,  fifty- two  in 
number,  rose  upon  the  captain  and  the  crew  of  "  The 
Amistad,"  took  the  vessel,  and  then,  through  their  igno 
rance  of  navigation,  were  landed  and  imprisoned  at  New 
London.  The  administration  would  have  returned  them 
to  the.  hands  of  the  slave-trader ;  but,  through  the  hu 
mane  exertions  of  Mr.  Lewis  Tappan  and  his  friends, 
the  captives,  after  a  sharp  contest  in  the  courts,  were 
set  free.  After  stating  the  whole  case  with  perspicuity 
and  force,  the  author  says, — 

"  In  all  the  acts  of  slavery's  grim  tragedy,  there  have 
been  few  scenes  which  presented  more  elements  of  in 
terest  than  that  of  '  The  Amistad  '  captives.  With  two 
continents  and  the  wide  Atlantic  for  a  theatre  ;  with  the 
robber-chiefs  of  Africa,  the  slave-pirates  of  the  ocean,  the 
representatives  of  a  European  monarchy  and  an  Ameri 
can  republic,  for  actors,  seemingly  engaged  in  a  common 
cause,  and  inspired  by  a  common  spirit,  —  it  presented 
through  the  whole,  with  dramatic  variety  and  force,  the 
strangest  contrasts  and  the  most  unlooked-for  and  con 
tradictory  combinations.  It  presented  barbarism  in  its 
most  repulsive  and  rudest  aspect,  and  Christianity  in 
its  most  attractive  and  lovely  attitude.  It  began  with  the 


NOMINATED   AS   VICE-PRESIDENT.  405 

midnight  hunt  for  captives  in  the  wilds  of  Africa:  it 
closed  by  Christian  men  and  women  sending  and  accom 
panying  these  captives  back  to  Africa  to  plant  churches 
and  schools  among  their  benighted  countrymen.  Through 
the  whole,  however,  the  one  dark  and  hideous  fact  stands 
O11t5  —  that  slavery  is  essentially  the  same,  its  adherents 
substantially  alike.  A  system  of  violence  impatient  of 
all  restraints,  whether  of  reason  or  of  conscience,  human 
ity  or  religion,  the  laws  of  the  heart  or  the  laws  of  the 
State,  it  seems  mainly  intent  on  compassing  its  own  ends 
by  whatever  means  and  at  whatever  hazards.  It  was  the 
same  in  Africa  and  in  America  ;  in  the  barracoon  and  in 
the  middle  passage  ;  under  a  monarchy  or  in  a  republic ; 
in  a  Pagan,  Protestant,  or  Catholic  country." 

At  the  Republican  Convention  held  in  Philadelphia  last 
June,  Mr.  Wilson  received  the  nomination  for  vice-presi 
dent  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Colfax,  who  was  a 
personal  friend  of  Mr.  Wilson,  had,  in  a  private  letter, 
signified  his  intention  of  declining  a  renomination,  when 
the  latter  allowed  his  name  to  be  presented.  The  vote 
for  these  gentlemen  in  the  convention  was  very  close  ; 
when  Virginia  changed  twenty  of  her  votes  from  JohnF. 
Lewis  to  Mr.  Wilson,  and  made  sure  his  nomination.  On 
the  reception  of  the  despatch  announcing  it  in  the  Senate, 
Mr.  Colfax  came  forward  and  heartily  congratulated  his 
friend  on  the  result.  Among  many  congratulations,  the 
following  was  received  from  Philadelphia,  which  doubt 
less  is  the  general  sentiment  of  the  people  ol  color,  for 
whom  Mr.  Wilson  has  labored  so  long  and  effectually  :  — 

PHILADELPHIA,  June  6,  1872. 

The  colored  working-men  of  the  country  send  you 
their  congratulations,  and  second  your  nomination  ;  and 


406  LIFE   OF   HENRY    WILSON. 

will  march  in  solid  columns  to  the  polls  in  November, 
and  cast  their  votes  for  the  representative  laboring-man 
of  the  American  nation. 

(Signed)  ISAAC  MYERS, 

Pres.  Colored  National  Ldbnr  Union. 

Speaking  of  the  nomination,  "  The  New- York  Trib 
une"  said, — 

"  Henry  Wilson  is  a  working-man,  and  life-long  He- 
publican,  who  has  passed  through  thirty  years  of  political 
contests  without  a  question  of  his  devotion  to  principle, 
or  a  stain  upon  his  integrity." 

His  letter  of  acceptance  points  briefly  to  the  leading 
features  of  the  past,  present,  and  future  policy  of  the 
Republican  party. 

HON.  HENRY  WILSON'S  LETTER  ACCEPTING    THE 
NOMINATION. 

WASHINGTON,  June  13,  1872. 

To  the  Hon.  THOMAS  SETTLE  and  others,  President  and  Vice- 
Presidents  of  the  National  Republican  Convention  held  at  Phila 
delphia  on  the  5th  and  6th  of  the  present  month. 

Gentlemen,  —  Your  note  of  the  10th  instant,  convey 
ing  to  me  the  action  of  the  convention  in  placing  my 
name  in  nomination  for  the  office  of  Yice-President  of 
the  United  States,  is  before  me.  I  need  not  give  you 
the  assurance  of  my  grateful  appreciation  of  the  high 
honor  conferred  upon  me  by  this  action  of  the  Fifth 
National  Convention  of  the  Republican  party.  Sixteen 
years  ago,  in  the  same  city,  was  held  the  first  meeting 
of  the  men  who,  amid  the  darkness  and  doubts  of  that 
hour  of  slaveholding  ascendency  and  aggression,  had  as 
sembled  in  a  national  convention  to  confer  with  each 


LETTER  ACCEPTING   HIS  NOMINATION.  407 

other  on  the  exigencies  to  which  that  fearful  domination 
had  brought  their  country.  After  a  full  conference,  the 
highest  point  of  resolve  they  could  reach,  the  most  they 
dared  to  recommend,  was  the  avowed  purpose  to  pro 
hibit  the  existence  of  slavery  in  the  Territories.  Last 
week  the  same  party  met  by  its  representatives  from 
thirty-seven  States  and  ten  Territories  at  the  same  great 
centre  of  wealth,  intelligence,  and  power,  to  review  the 
past,  take  note  of  the  present,  and  indicate  its  line  of 
action  for  the  future.  As  typical  facts,  headlands  of  the 
nation's  history,  there  sat  on  its  platform,  taking  an  hon 
orable  and  prominent  part  in  its  proceedings,  admitted 
on  terms  of  perfect  equality  to  the  leading  hotels  of  the 
city,  not  only  the  colored  representative  of  the  race 
which  were  ten  years  before  in  abject  slavery,  but  one  of 
the  oldest  and  most  prominent  of  the  once  despised  abo 
litionists,  to  whom  was  accorded  as  to  no  other  the 
warmest  demonstration  of  popular  regard  and  esteem  ;  an 
ovation  not  to  him  alone,  but  to  the  cause  he  had  so  ably 
and  so  many  years  represented,  and  to  men  and  women, 
living  and  dead,  who  toiled  through  long  years  of  obloquy 
and  self-sacrifice  for  the  glorious  fruition  of  that  hour. 
It  hardly  needed  the  brilliant  summary  of  its  platform  to 
set  forth  its  illustrious  achievements.  The  very  presence 
of  those  men  was  alone  significant  of  the  victories 
achieved,  the  progress  already  made,  and  the  great  dis 
tance  which  the  nation  had  travelled  between  the  years 
1856  and  1872.  But,  grand  as  has  been  its  record,  the 
Republican  parly  rests  not  on  its  past  alone  :  it  looks  to 
the  future,  and  grapples  with  its  problems  of  duty  and 
t>f  danger.  It  proposes,  as  objects  of  its  immediate 
accomplishment,  "  complete  liberty  and  exact  equality  for 
all;"  the  enforcement  of  the  recent  amendments  to  the 


408  LIFE   OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

National  Constitution  ;  the  reform  in  the  civil  service  ; 
the  national  domain  to  be  set  apart  for  homes  for  the 
people  ;  the  adjustment  of  the  duties  on  imports,  so  as  to 
secure  remunerative  wages  to  labor ;  the  extension  of 
bounties  to  all  soldiers  and  sailors  who  in  line  of  duty 
became  disabled ;  the  continual  and  careful  encourage 
ment  and  protection  of  voluntary  immigration,  and 
guarding  with  a  zealous  care  the  rights  of  adopted  citi 
zens  ;  the  abolition  of  the  franking  privilege,  and  the 
speedy  reduction  of  the  rates  of  postage ;  the  reduction 
of  the  national  debt  and  rates  of  interest,  and  resump 
tion  of  specie  payment ;  the  encouragement  of  American 
commerce  and  of  ship-building ;  the  suppression  of 
violence,  and  the  protection  of  the  ballot-box.  It  also 
placed  on  record  the  opinions  and  purposes  of  the  party 
in  favor  of  amnesty ;  against  all  forms  of  repudiation  ; 
and  indorsed  the  humane  and  peaceful  policy  of  the 
administration  in  regard  to  the  Indians.  But,  while 
clearly  defining  and  distinctly  announcing  the  policy  of 
the  Republican  party  on  these  questions  of  practical 
legislation  and  administration,  the  convention  did  not 
ignore  the  great  social  problems  which  are  pressing  their 
claims  for  solution,  and  which  demand  the  most  careful 
study  and  wise  consideration.  Foremost  stands  the 
labor  question.  Concerning  the  relations  of  capital  and 
labor,  the  Republican  party  accepts  the  duty  of  so 
shaping  legislation  as  to  secure  full  protection  and  the 
amplest  field  for  capital,  and  for  labor,  the  creator  of 
capital,  the  largest  opportunities,  and  a  just  share  of 
mutual  profits  of  these  two  great  servants  of  civilization. 
To  woman  too,  and  her  new  demands,  it  extends  the 
hand  of  grateful  recognition,  and  proffers  it  a  most 
respectful  inquiry.  It  recognizes  her  noble  devotion  to 


LETTER  ACCEPTING  HIS  NOMINATION.      409 

the  country  and  freedom,  welcomes  her  admission  to 
wider  fields  of  usefulness,  and  commends  her  demands 
for  additional  rights  to  the  calm  and  careful  considera 
tion  of  the  nation ;  to  guard  well  what  has  already  been 
secured,  to  work  out  faithfully  and  wisely  what  is  now 
in  hand,  and  to  consider  the  questions  which  are  looming 
up  to  view  but  a  little  way  before  us.  The  Republican 
party  is  to-day  what  it  was  in  the  gloomy  years  of 
slavery,  rebellion,  and  reconstruction, —  a  national  neces 
sity.  It  appeals  therefore,  for  support,  to  the  patriotic 
and  liberty-loving ;  to  the  just  and  humane  ;  to  all  who 
dignify  labor ;  to  all  who  would  educate,  elevate,  and 
lighten  the  burdens  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  toil. 
With  its  great  record  and  the  work  still  to  be  done  under 
the  great  soldier  whose  historic  renown  and  whose  suc 
cessful  administration  for  the  last  three  years  begat  such 
popular  confidence,  the  Republican  party  may  confi 
dently,  in  the  language  of  the  convention  you  represent, 
start  on  a  new  march  to  victory.  Having  accepted 
thirty-six  years  ago  the  distinguished  doctrines  of  the 
Republican  party  of  to-day  ;  having,  during  the  years 
of  that  period,  for  their  advancement,  subordinated  all 
other  issues,  acting  in  and  co-operating  with  political 
organizations  with  whose  leading  doctrines  I  sometimes 
had  neither  sympathy  nor  belief ;  having  labored  inces 
santly  for  many  years  to  found  and  build  up  the  Repub 
lican  party ;  and  having,  during  its  existence,  taken  a 
humble  part  in  its  grand  work,  —  I  gratefully  accept  the 
nomination  thus  tendered  ;  and  shall  endeavor,  if  it  shall 
be  ratified  by  the  people,  faithfully  to  perform  the  duties 
it  imposes. 

Respectfully  yours, 
(Signed)  HENRY  WILSON. 

35 


410  LIFE   OF   HENEY   WILSON. 

At  a  grand  ratification  meeting  held  in  Fauenil  Hall 
on  the  22d  of  June,  1872,  in  which  able  speeches  were 
made  by  Judge  Hoar  and  Gen.  Butler,  Mr.  Wilson, 
being  presented  amidst  a  storm  of  cheers  and  applause, 
in  substance  said,  — 

"  MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS,  —  I  thank  you 
for  this  kind  welcome,  and  will  not  detain  you  at  this  lata 
hour  by  any  remarks  of  mine.  I  hardly  know  why  I  was 
invited  here.  The  doctrines  of  your  platform  I  have  pro 
claimed  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  in  nearly  thirty 
States  of  the  Union.  I  gave  an  unhesitating  support  to 
Gen.  Grant  during  the  war,  and  I  have  given  an  unhesi 
tating  support  to  his  administration  during  the  past  three 
years  (applause)  ;  and  I  assure  you  to-night,  .if  you 
need  the  assurance,  that  I  shall  give  an  unhesitating  sup 
port  to  his  re-election  to  the  presidency.  (Applause.) 
As  for  myself,  I  leave  it  to  my  friends,  personal  and 
political,  in  Massachusetts  and  in  the  country ;  and  I  am 
sure,  whatever  iny  friends  may  say,  that  those  who  do 
not  agree  with  me  politically  will  not  accuse  me  of  any 
want  of  fidelity  to  myself.  I  only  say  to  you  at  this 
hour,  that  I  trust  you,  men  of  Boston  and  of  Massachu 
setts,  will  this  year,  and  in  the  future,  be  as  true  as  you 
nave  been  for  the  past  twelve  years  for  the  cause  of  the 
country  and  the  cause  of  liberty.  No  matter  who  may 
be  the  candidate  at  Baltimore,  —  whether  it  be  Horace 
Greeley  or  any  other  man,  —  you  will  meet  in  this  canvass 
the  Democratic  party  of  the  United  States.  You  have 
met  the  party  before  ;  you  have  defeated  it  before.  You 
can,  and  I  have  no  doubt  whatever  you  will,  defeat  it  in 
the  coming  election.  Listen  to  no  voice.  You  remem 
ber  Republicans  said  a  few  years  ago  in  Virginia, c  We 
will  put  up  a  Republican  for  governor,  and  we  will  have 


ADDRESS  IN  FANEUIL  HALL.  411 

a  Republican  administration  with  the  support  of  the 
Democratic  party.'  He  went  into  power.  The  Repub 
licans  were  defeated  ;  and  he  became  —  what  he  knew  he 
was  before  —  the  mere  instrument  of  the  Democratic  par 
ty  in  Virginia.  Republicans  in  Western  Virginia  joined 
the  Democratic  party;  and  to-day  the  question  is  submit 
ted  in  a  constitutional  convention,  whether  the  black  men 
shall  have  the  right  to  vote  or  not.  Republicans  joined 
Democrats,  and  restored  the  Democracy  to  power,  in 
Tennessee ;  and  the  school  system,  under  which  there 
were  a  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  children  in  the 
schools  in  that  State,  was  broken  down.  Republicans 
joined  the  Democrats  in  Missouri ;  and  Frank  Blair,  who 
represents  Democracy,  sits  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  The  experiment  made  shows,  that,  when  they 
join  issue,  the  Republicans  go  to  the  Democratic  party  : 
that  party  would  never  come  to  them.  Stand,  then,  I 
say,  by  the  Republican  platform,  by  the  Republican  can 
didates.  (Applause.)  Continue  and  hold  and  secure 
what  we  fought  for  in  war ;  and,  in  addition  to  all,  march 
with  events,  keep  pace  with  human  progress,  bearing  the 
flag  of  Republican  civilization  and  improvement  in  our 
country,  and  our  efforts  will  be  blessed  for  the  good  of 
our  country  and  the  world."  (Applause.) 

Of  his  title  to  the  suffrage  of  the  colored  people  of 
America,  Mr.  Garrison  thus,  in  a  recent  letter,  speaks  :  — 

"  During  thirty-six  years  of  public  life  he  has  made 
the  freedom  of  the  race,  so  long  peeled  and  trodden 
down,  paramount  to  all  other  political  considerations. 
Instead  of  persistently  shunning  antislavery  meetings, 
he  was  a  frequent  attendant  upon  them,  and  freely  par 
ticipated  in  their  proceedings.  Now  that  he  has  been 
deservedly  nominated  by  the  Republican  party  for  the 


412  LIFE  OF   HENEY  WILSON. 

vice-presidency  of  the  United  States,  and,  if  elected, 
may  possibly,  in  the  turn  of  events,  be  the  acting  presi 
dent,  it  should  be  a  matter  of  pride  and  gratitude  on 
the  part  of  colored  voters  to  give  him  their  united 
suffrages. " 

When  the  news  of  his  nomination  to  the  vice-presi 
dency  was  telegraphed  to  him  by  his  friends  in  Natick, 
his  touching  reply  was,  "  Place  a  bouquet  of  flowers  on 
iny  wife's  grave."  She  ever  shone  as  a  benignant  star 
in  his  memory.  In  July  he  visited  North  Carolina 
and  Virginia,  and  made  effective  speeches  at  Wilming 
ton,  Richmond,  and  other  cities,  aiming  ever  to  concili 
ate  the  disaffected  Republicans,  to  induce  them  to 
return  to  the  ranks  of  the  regular  party,  and  to  stand 
true  to  the  principles  for  which  they  had  so  manfully 
contended  on  the  field  of  battle.  The  meeting  at 
Wilmington  continued  seven  hours;  and  great  enthu 
siasm  was  manifested  by  the  white  as  well  as  colored 
citizens.  He  returned  in  excellent  health,  and  with 
hopeful  views  of  the  condition  of  the  States  he  had 
visited.  He  observed  to  a  friend,  on  his  return,  that, 
during  thirty-two  years  of  political  life,  he  had  made 
about  thirteen  hundred  speeches  that  had  appeared  in 
print ;  and  that,  so  far  as  he  could  remember,  he  had 
uttered  but  one  sentence  that  he  regretted,  and  that 
because  of  misapprehension :  it  was  in  reply  to  Mr. 
Benjamin  of  Louisiana,  when  he  charged  him  with 
treason  to  a  country  "  which  even  secured  freedom  to 
the  race  that  stoned  the  prophets,  and  crucified  the 
Redeemer  of  the  world." 

In  August  following,  he  made  a  Western  tour,  and 
was  everywhere  received  with  great  enthusiasm  by  the 
people. 


THE   PRESIDENTIAL   CAMPAIGN.  413 

At  Richmond,  Ind.,  he  addressed  an  audience  of  ten 
thousand  persons ;  and  his  earnest  and  eloquent  appeals 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  integrity  of  the  Republican 
party  met  with  hearty  and  prolonged  responses  from  the 
vast  multitude.  Returning  home  (Aug.  13),  he  spoke  to 
an  enthusiastic  meeting  in  Natick ;  and  a  banner  bear 
ing  the  names  of  Grant  and  Wilson  was  unfurled  in  the 
westerly  part  of  the  town,  near  the  spot  where  he  had 
arrived,  penniless  and  unknown,  in  1833,  and  where  he 
commenced  making  "  brogans "  in  the  little  shop  of 
Mr.  William  P.  Legro.  He  then,  in  September,  visited 
several  cities  in  ,  Maine,  where  he  met  with  a  most 
cordial  reception,  and  spoke  with  his  wonted  fire 
and  wisdom  before  many  enthusiastic  audiences.  As 
many  as  fifteen  hundred  people,  for  instance,  received 
him  in  Columbia  Hall,  Bath ;  and  hundreds  were 
unable  to  gain  admittance.  Thus  moving  with  untiring 
activity  from  State  to  State,  and  city  to  city,  he  con 
ducted,  as  a  veteran  understanding  well  the  strategy  of 
the  opposing  forces,  this  exciting  presidential  campaign. 

It  was  urged  against  him,  that  he  had  once  belonged 
to  the  Native  American,  party;  and  he,  of  course, 
admitted  it.  "But,"  said  he,  "in  1854,  there  were  a 
million  men  in  this  movement.  I,  with  the  rest,  went 
into  it,  as  the  people  went  into  the  Union  leagues, 
to  break  up  the  old  parties.  The  antislavery  friends, 
then,  out  of  this,  formed  the  Republican  party.  In  the 
National  Convention  at  Philadelphia,  I  told  them,  that 
if  they  adopted  that  narrow,  intolerant,  bigoted  plat 
form,  I  would  use  my  influence  to  crush  it  to  atoms. 
They  adopted  it.  I  left  it ;  and  we  crushed  it  to  atoms." 
Attempts  were  also  made  to  implicate  him  in  the  ques 
tionable  transactions  of  the  Credit  Mobilier,  by  which 

35* 


414  LITE  OF  HENBY  WILSON. 

the  fair  fame  of  several  congressmen  was  tarnisLed; 
but  he  most  emphatically  and  truly  denied  that  he 
ever  received  any  of  its  bonds,  shares,  or  stocks ;  and, 
though  some  property  belonging  to  his  wife  had  been 
therein  invested,  it  was  immediately  withdrawn  when 
it  appeared  that  such  investment  might  not  be  legal, 
just,  and  right. 

Of  the  departure  of  his  colleague,  Mr.  Simmer,  from 
the  ranks  of  the  old  Republicans,  he  spoke  with  un 
feigned  sorrow.  "  I  have,"  said  he  to  a  friend,  "  most 
earnestly  expostulated  with  him  on  his  course.  I 
believe  that  he  is  wrong  :  I  have  frankly  told  him  so  ; 
but,  without  resenting  my  appeal  to  him,  he  stands  im 
movable.  I  am  sorry  for  him."  Then,  in  reference  to 
himself,  Mr.  Wilson  said,  uMy  own  course  has  been 
as  straight  as  that  of  a  cannon-ball ;  and  men  will  yet 
acknowledge  it."  It  is  worthy  to  be  noted,  and  alike 
honorable  to  both,  that  political  differences  produced  no 
personal  animosity  between  these  eminent  statesmen. 
Though  diametrically  opposite  in  mental  temperament 
and  habits  of  thought,  they  well  understood  each  other's 
worth  and  power,  and  had  labored  too  long,  shoulder  to 
shoulder  in  the  great  struggle  for  human  freedom,  to 
allow  any  place  for  personal  resentment.  And  so  they 
continued  to  speak  kindly  to  and  of  each  other,  the 
ties  of  friendship  remaining  bright,  until  severed  by  Mr. 
Sumner's  death. 

Though  the  most  strenuous  efforts  were  made  by  the 
opposition,  so  effective  were  the  arguments  of  Mr.  Wil 
son  and  his  coadjutors,  such  were  the  memories  and 
convictions  of  the  soldiers  who  had  imperilled  their  lives 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  Union,  and  such  were  the 
popular  traits  and  characteristics  of  the  candidates, 


ELECTED   VICE-PRESIDENT.  415 

proclaimed  by  the  press,  the  platform  speak  srs,  and  set 
forth  in  the  campaign  melodies,  such  as 

"  A  song  and  a  chant 

For  Wilson  and  Grant, 
Who  rose  from  the  lowliest  station; 
The  tried  and  the  true, 
Who  whate'er  they  may  do 
Will  be  done  for  the  good  of  the  nation. 

CHORUS:  Then  work  for  our  leaders, 

All  good  men, 

For  they  are  men  of  leather, 
And  raise  the  chant 
For  Wilson  and  Grant, 
And  we'll  vote  them  in  together," 

and  received  with  wild  enthusiasm  in  the  vast  assemblies 
of  the  people,  that  the  Grant  and  Wilson  ticket  became 
triumphant  in  November ;  and  the  "  Natick  cobbler " 
reached  the  second  position  in  the  government  of  the 
nation.  Well,  indeed,  had  he,  by  his  long  and  faithful 
services,  by  his  eminent  abilities,  and  his  life  of  immacu 
late  integrity,  earned  this  high  distinction ;  yet  his 
noble  soul  was  not  in  anywise  elated  by  the  honor. 
He  even  expressed  regret  to  his  intimate  friends  at  his 
elevation,  inasmuch  as  it  deprived  him  of  the  opportu 
nity  of  discussing  great  national  questions  in  the 
chamber  of  the  Senate,  where  he  had  so  long  effectually 
served  his  country. 

President  Grant  and  Senator  Wilson  received  on 
the  popular  vote  a  majority  of  762,991  over  Horace 
Greeley  and  B.  Gratz  Brown,  and  300  to  66  electoral 
votes  thrown  for  various  candidates ;  and  so  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1873,  Mr.  Wilson  took  his  seat  as  pre 
siding  officer  of  the  United-States  Senate,  where  he 


416  LIFE   OF   HENBY   WILSON. 

had  most  manfully  defended,  for  almost  twenty  years, 
the  principles  of  the  Constitution  and  of  civil  freedom. 
So  poor  was  Mr.  WiLjon  at  the  time  of  his  inauguration, 
that,  on  the  evening  previous  to  that  ceremony,  he 
called,  says  Mr.  F.  B.  Carpenter,  on  Mr.  Sumner,  and 
said,  — 

"  Sumner,  can  you  lend  me  a  hundred  dollars  ?  I 
have  not  got  money  enough  to  be  inaugurated  on." 
Mr.  Sumner  replied,  "  Certainly.  If  it  had  been  a 
large  sum,  I  might  not  have  been  able  to  help  you ;  but 
I  can  always  lend  a  friend  a  hundred  dollars."  He 
then  gave  Mr.  Wilson  a  check  for  the  amount;  and, 
after  the  latter  had  retired,  Mr.  Sumner,  turning  to 
Mr.  Carpenter,  remarked,  "  There  is  an  incident  worth 
remembering,  —  such  a  one  as  could  never  have  occurred 
in  any  country  but  our  own." 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

ME.   WILSON  AS  PRESIDENT   OF  THE  SENATE.  —  HIS 

HEALTH  DECLINING.  —  HIS   SECOND  VOLUME 

OF  THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  THE  SLAVE- 

POWER.  —  HIS  LAST   SICKNESS.  — 

HIS  DEATH. 

Mr.  Wilson  presiding  over  the  Senate.  —  His  Industry.  —Declension 
of  his  Health.  —  His  Retirement  from  Labor.  —  Visit  to  New  Hamp 
shire.  —  Letter  to  "  The  Springfield  Republican."  —  The  Bounty  Bill. 
—  Death  of  Charles  Simmer.  —  Health  Improving.  —  The  Second 
Volume  of  "The  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave-Power  in  America."  — 
His  Back  Pay  as  Senator.  —  His  Opinion  of  President  Grant.  —  His 
Tour  to  the  South-west.  —  Summer  at  Saratoga.  —  The  Republican 
Convention  at  Worcester.  —  His  Last  Sickness  and  Death.—  The 
Autopsy. 


OMMANDING  in  person,  quick  in  perception,  and 
well  versed  in  parliamentary  practice,  Mr.  Wilson 
presided  with  dignity  and  great  acceptance  over  the 
Senate  ;  and  his  decisions  were  respected  by  the  members 
of  both  parties.  His  earnest  desire,  expressed  on  every 
suitable  occasion,  was  conciliation  between  the  factions  in 
the  Republican  party,  and  the  restoration  of  fraternity 
and  friendliness  between  the  North  and  South. 

Although  his  elevation  to  the  office  of  vice-president 
lessened  his  senatorial  labors,  he  still  allowed  himself 
no  rest.  Every  leisure  moment  was  devoted  to  the  com 
position  of  his  great  work  on  "  The  Rise  and  Fall  of  the 
Slave-Power  in  America,"  for  which  the  consultation  of 

417 


418  LIFE   OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

numberless  authorities,  and  an  extensive  correspondence, 
were  demanded.  His  arduous  labors  were  often  ex 
tended  late  into  the  night ;  and  he  observed  to  a  friend, 
at  this  period,  that  he  seldom  laid  aside  his  pen  until 
the  clock  struck  two  in  the  morning.  "  My  mail  comes 
in  late,"  he  said;  "the  journals  must  be  read;  my  let 
ters  must  be  looked  over,  some  of  them  answered ;  and 
so  I  am  obliged  to  steal  an  hour  or  two  from  the  coming 
day  before  retiring." 

But  though  strictly  temperate,  and  early  inured  to 
toil,  his  constitution  was  not  adequate  to  the  strain  of 
such  incessant  industry.  His  health  began  to  yield  to 
this  habitual  transgression  of  hygienic  law.  His  first 
fearful  warning  was  a  sudden,  but  only  partial,  paralysis 
of  a  facial  nerve,  in  1873,  by  which  his  countenance 
was  slightly  altered,  and  his  utterance  somewhat  im 
paired.  The  usual  remedies  were  prescribed ;  and, 
above  all,  the  physicians  imperatively  enjoined  repose 
from  labor :  but  how  could  a  mind  of  such  intense 
activity  obey  the  injunction?  This  very  monition  of  the 
uncertainty  of  life  incited  the  desire  in  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent  to  complete  his  book,  which  he  considered  the  most 
valuable  legacy  he  could  leave  to  his  countrymen.  He, 
however,  yielded  somewhat  to  his  medical  advisers,  and 
spent  the  summer,  —  some  time  at  the  house  of  his 
friend,  ex-Gov.  Claflin,  some  time  at  his  home  in  Natick, 
some  time  in  profound  retirement,  endeavoring  to  rest 
from  labor,  and  to  recuperate  his  health.  On  one  occa 
sion,  a  friend,  calling  at  the  house  where  the  Vice- Presi 
dent  was  living  very  quietly,  inquired  of  the  se-rvant 
for  Mr.  Wilson ;  when  she  replied  to  him,  "  There's 
no  such  person  here :  I  never  heard  of  such  a  man." 
On  being  further  questioned,  she  responded,  "  Yes,  sir, 


ANTI-SLAVERY  REUNION.  419 

there  is  an  invalid  stopping  here ;  but  I  don't  know  who 
he  is,  and  he  is  out  to-day."  She  reported  this  to  hei 
mistress,  and  was  not  a  little  surprised  to  learn  from  her, 
that,  for  several  weeks,  she  had  been  waiting  on  the 
Yice-President  of  the  United  States. 

In  September,  Mr.  Wilson  made  a  journey  to  the 
White  Mountains,  stopping,  on  the  way,  to  visit  the 
spot  where  he  was  born,  near  the  Cocheeo  River,  in 
Farmington  ;  and,  on  returning,  found  his  health  im 
proved,  and  thought,  if  the  papers  would  but  let  him 
alone,  he  might  hope  for  a  complete  recovery.  In 
November,  however,  he  excused  himself  from  speaking 
at  the  Massachusetts  Club,  on  account  of  illness ;  and 
although  he  repaired  to  Washington,  and  took  his  seat 
in  the  chair  of  the  Senate  at  the  opening  of  Congress, 
he  was  soon  obliged  to  retire  from  it,  and  seek  repose 
in  his  peaceful  home  at  Natick. 

Early  in  January,  1874,  he  greatly  enjoyed  a  re-union 
at  No.  13  Chestnut  Street,  Boston,  with  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson,  Wendell  Phillips,  Charles  Bradlaugh,  and 
other  celebrities ;  and,  on  the  16th  of  the  same  month, 
addressed  a  letter  on  the  political  situation  to  "  The 
Springfield  Republican,"  in  which  he  hopefully  says, 
"  I  believe  the  Republican  party  has  it  in  its  power 
to  recover  what  is  lost,  and  to  elect  the  next  Presi 
dent."  And  he  also  expresses  his  earnest  desire  for 
reconciliation  between  the  conflicting  elements  in  the 
party,  and  the  return  of  those  who  had  abandoned  it. 
In  another  letter,  written  about  this  time,  he  assigns  his 
reasons  for  voting  for  the  Bounty  Bill,  very  sensibly 
avowing  that  "  the  nation  is  bound  in  honor  to  be  as 
liberal  now  towards  .the  men  who  fought  its  battles  as 
it  pledged  itself  to  be  in  the  time  of  danger." 


420  LIFE  OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

Mr.  Wilson  was  profoundly  affected  at  the  death  of 
Charles  Sumner,  who  had  fought  with  him  so  many 
hard  battles  in  the  senate-chamber  ;  and  shed  over  his 
grave  at  Mt.  Auburn  the  tear  of  sad  regret,  observing, 
as  he  took  his  farewell  look  of  the  distinguished  states 
man,  "  I  soon  shall  follow  him." 

In  April  ensuing,  a  passage  was  engaged  for  him  for 
d  second  trip  to  Europe,  under  the  hope  that  a  change 
of  scene,  and  foreign  medical  advice,  might  restore  him 
to  his  wonted  vigor ;  but,  feeling  soon  that  his  health 
was  gradually  improving,  he  abandoned  this  design, 
and  spent  the  summer  in  recreation  at  various  watering- 
places  along  the  shore,  and  in  carrying  through  the 
press  the  second  volume  of  his  great  work  on  "  The 
Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave-Power  in  America,"  which 
was  published  this  year,  in  superior  style,  by  James 
R.  Osgood  &  Co.,  Boston.  In  it  Mr.  Wilson,  with  the 
hand  of  a  master,  analyzes  and  describes  the  leading 
national  events  through  that  stirring  period  extending 
from  the  admission  of  Florida  to  the  election  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  ;  and  fully  sustains  the  reputation  for  candor, 
for  profound  research,  for  classification  of  facts,  for 
logical  reasoning,  and  for  force,  clearness,  and  dignity 
of  style,  which  the  first  instalment  of  this  important 
contribution  to  our  political  history  gained  for  him. 
His  chapters  on  the  origin  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
the  assault  on  Mr.  Sumner,  are  most  ably  written  ;  and 
the  whole  work,  coming  as  it  does  from  an  actor  in  the 
events  recorded,  is  worthy  to  be  profoundly  studied  by 
the  American  people. 

At  the  opening  of  the  session  of  Congress  at  the 
close  of  the  year,  the  Vice-President  had  so  far  regained 
his  health  as  to  be  able  to  preside  over  the  Senate  with 


TOUR  IN   THE  SOUTH-WEST.  421 

his  usual  ability.  His  back  pay  as  a  senator  lie  nobly 
returned  to  the  treasury ;  and,  though  differing  in  many 
points  from  the  policy  of  the  President,  he  lived  on  the 
most  friendly  terms  with  him,  and  entertained,  as  ever,  a 
high  opinion  of  his  executive  wisdom.  To  a  friend  he 
said,  one  day,  "  The  third-term  movement  is  all  non 
sense.  President  Grant  is  a  singularly  able  man  ;  and 
the  country  hardly  knows  any  thing  about  him  person 
ally.  He  is  immensely  underrated.  The  President  is 
reticent ;  but,  in  reference  to  the  third  term,  I  do  not 
really  think  that  he  himself  desires  it."  He  also  men 
tioned  Mr.  Elaine  and  Mr.  Washburne  as  probable 
Republican  candidates  for  the  next  presidential  canvass. 
In  the  spring  of  1875,  he  made  a  tour  in  the  South 
western  States,  where  he  examined  the  condition  of  the 
schools,  and  spoke,  in  no  less  than  twenty-nine  public 
addresses,  words  of  fraternity  and  encouragement  to 
the  people.  He  visited  the  graves  of  Jackson,  Clay, 
Taylor,  Polk,  Crittenden,  Bell,  and  Benton,  for  the 
latter  of  whom  he  ever  entertained  the  most  profound 
respect.  In  ihf  streets  of  Memphis  he  spoke  a  moment 
with  Mrs.  Jefferson  Davis.  He  saw  with  delight  the 
loyal  demonstrations  of  the  people,  and  returned  with 
renewed  hope  and  vigor  for  the  prosecution  of  his  lite 
rary  labors.  After  the  centennial  celebrations  at  Lex 
ington  and  Boston,  in  which  he  took  an  active  part,  he 
repaired  to  Saratoga,  where  his  physician  gave  him 
permission  to  spend  the  morning  in  writing  on  his 
book,  on  condition  that  he  would  rest  for  the  remainder 
of  the  day.  Here  he  made  two  effective  addresses 
on  behalf  of  temperance  to  large  audiences,  and 
re-afnrmed  the  principles  by  which  his  whole  life  had 
been  guided. 


422  LIFE   OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

In  September,  he  was  called  to  preside  over  the 
Republican  Convention  at  Worcester.  His  address  on 
that  occasion  was  strong,  but  conciliatory,  advising 
union  on  the  part  of  all  Republicans,  and  predicting  the 
triumph  of  their  principles,  and  the  election  of  Alexan 
der  H.  Rice  to  the  gubernatorial  chair.  To  this,  and  tc 
his  letters  written  at  this  period,  the  success  of  the 
party  at  the  last  election  is,  no  doubt,  largely  due. 
There  is  something  of  sublimity  in  the  course  of  a  man 
standing  thus  steadily  to  the  principles  of  his  party, 
which  so  many  in  times  of  trial  had  deserted,  and,  by 
his  inflexible  integrity  and  judicious  counsel,  rallying  it, 
again  to  victory. 

But  the  days  of  this  wise  political  guide  were  num 
bered.  Dining  at  Young's  Hotel  a  short  time  after 
wards,  he  suddenly  received  another  paralytic  attack, 
and  was  immediately  carried  to  the  residence  of  his 
friend,  Mr.  Webster,  where  the  usual  restoratives  were 
applied.  His  speech  was  again  affected,  and  his  face 
somewhat  distorted.  He  then  said  to  a  friend  beside 
him,  "  I  have  received  my  mortal  blow ;  but  I  greatly 
desire  to  remain  a  few  years  longer  to  finish  up  my 
work." 

Convalescing  rapidly,  he  repaired  to  Washington 
early  in  November,  subjecting  himself,  on  the  way,  to 
the  same  severe  trial  by  fire  which  Mr.  Sumner  received 
from  Dr.  Brown-Se'quard.  He  was,  however,  aftei 
taking  a  warm  bath  (Nov.  10),  again  prostrated  by 
another  and  still  more  serious  paralytic  shock.  The 
most  effective  remedies  were  prescribed ;  and,  though 
greatly  suffering,  such  was  the  vigor  of  his  constitution, 
that  he  rallied  under  their  effect,  and,  on  the  13th  of 
November,  was  pronounced  convalescent  by  his  physi- 


SICK  AT  THE   CAPITOL.  423 

cian.  "  If  I  could  arrange  my  death,"  said  he  to  one 
of  his  attendants,  "  I  would  die  quietly  in  my  home,  and 
have  the  privilege  of  saying  good-by  to  my  friends, 
and  be  laid  quietly  away.  But  I  have  a  premonition 
that  I  shall  die  suddenly ;  be  snuffed  out  like  a  candle, 
without  an  opportunity  to  say  good-by  to  any  one.': 
These  were  prophetic  words. 

On  the  night  of  the  17th  following,  he  slept  so 
soundly,  and  felt  so  well  in  the  morning,  that  he  desired 
to  leave  his  room  at  the  Capitol,  but  was  restrained  by 
his  physician,  who  was  constantly  compelled  to  combat 
the  intense  activity  of  his  nature.  In  a  conversation 
with  a  friend  on  the  day  following,  he  said,  "  Every, 
body  has  been  very  kind  to  me  during  my  illness.  See 
here,"  he  continued,  turning  to  a  splendid  basket  of 
flowers,  —  "  see  what  the  wife  of  the  President  has  sent 
me  !  "  And,  pointing  to  a  superb  lily  in  the  centre,  he 
remarked,  "  This  is  a  fit  emblem  of  the  purity  which  sur 
rounds  the  world  of  immortality,  which  we  all  hope 
some  day  to  reach."  He  then  added,  "  The  doctors 
think  that  I  am  getting  better,  and  I  believe  so  myself. 
They  say  that  I  shall  be  able  to  go  North  on  Monday : 
we  will  see."  In  reference  to  politics,  he  said,  "  The 
Democrats  will  have  to  improve  a  great  deal  before  the 
people  will  intrust  them  with  the  government ;  and  they 
will  never  put  one  into  the  presidential  office,  if  he  ever 
had  any  connection  with  the  Rebellion."  On  Sunday, 
21st,  he  was  not  quite  as  well,  but  received  a  number 
of  visitors,  among  whom  were  Messrs.  Burt  and  Cross- 
man.  So  little  apprehension  was  felt,  that  Dr.  Baxter, 
his  physician,  having  given  directions  to  his  attendants, 
Messrs.  S.  H.  Boyden  and  F.  A.  Wood,  to  administer 
his  medicines,  left  him  early  in  the  evening  with  the 


424  LIFE   OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

hope  that  he  might  be  able  to  ride  out  the  next  day. 
Soon  afterwards  Mr.  Wilson  said,  "  If  the  doctor  were 
here,  I  would  have  a  blister  put  on  the  back  of  my 
neck ;  but  it  is  not  worth  while  to  send  for  him ; "  and, 
after  his  limbs  had  been  rubbed,  observed  that  he  felt 
unusually  well,  and  fell  asleep.  Awaking  about  mid 
night,  he  arose,  walked  around  his  room,  and  then,  going 
to  his  table,  took  up  a  little  treasured  volume  of  poems, 
called  "  The  Changed  Cross,"  containing  photographs  of 
his  wife  and  son,  whose  memories  he  most  tenderly 
cherished,  and  read  from  it  three  stanzas,  one  of  which 
formed  the  burden  of  his  daily  prayer  :  — 

"  Help  us,  O  Lord,  with  patient  love  to  bear 

Each  other's  faults  ;  to  suffer  with  true  meekness : 
Help  us  each  others'  joys  and  griefs  to  share  ; 
But  let  us  turn  to  thee  alone  in  weakness." 

Having  laid  down  the  book,  he  spoke  of  the  kindness 
of  his  friends,  and,  returning  in  a  pleasant  mood  to  bed, 
soon  fell  asleep.  At  three  o'clock  he  again  awoke,  re 
quested  Mr.  Boyden  to  rub  his  breast ;  when  he  again 
fell  into  a  profound  sleep,  which  continued  until  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  On  awaking,  he  expressed 
himself  as  feeling  very  well,  and,  on  being  informed  of 
the  death  of  Senator  Ferry,  said,  "  Poor  Ferry,  he  has 
been  a  great  sufferer:  that  makes  eighty-three  dead 
with  whom  I  have  sat  in  the  Senate.  What  a  record ! 
If  I  live  to  the  end  of  my  present  term,  I  shall  be  the 
sixth  in  the  history  of  the  country  who  have  served  so 
long  a  time."  He  then,  referring  cheerfully  to  his  im 
proved  condition,  drank  some  bitter  water,  turned  over 
on  his  left  side,  and  in  a  few  moments,  without  any 
apparent  pain  or  struggle,  ceased  to  breathe. 


DEATH.  425 

"  So  fades  a  summer  cloud  away; 

So  sinks  the  gale  when  storms  are  o'er ; 
So  gently  shuts  the  eye  of  day; 

So  dies  a  wave  along  the  shore. 
Triumphant  smiles  the  victor's  brow, 

Fanned  by  some  guardian  angel's  wing: 
Where  is,  O  Grave!  thy  victory  now? 

And  where,  insidious  Death,  thy  sting?  " 

Thus  in  his  room  at  the  Capitol,  where  he  had  spent 
so  many  years  in  the  defence  of  civil  liberty,  with  but 


The  Capitol  at  Washington. 

one  attendant  at  his  bedside,  the  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States  departed,  at  twenty  minutes  past  seven 
o'clock  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  November,  1875, 
in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  Thus  the  brain 
that  had  devised  so  many  measures  for  the  good  of  his 
country  ceased  from  its  throbbings  ;  thus  the  heart  that 
had  so  magnanimously  beaten  for  the  sons  of  toil  and 
suffering  became  cold  and  still ;  and,  as  Judge  Hoar 
observed,  no  cleaner  hands  were  ever  folded  on  a  truer 
breast. 

An  autopsy  of  the   body  of   Mr.  Wilson   disclosed 

36* 


426  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

black  fluid  blood  in  the  sinuses  of  the  brain,  which 
weighed  forty-nine  ounces  and  a  half,  and  thus  made  it 
manifest  that  the  immediate  cause  of  his  death  was 
apoplexy.  His  body  was  then  embalmed,  and  laid  out  on 
Tuesday  morning  in  the  room  where  he  expired,  dressed 
in  the  black  suit  which  he  wore  on  state  occasions, 
with  a  wreath  of  white  flowers  at  his  head  and  a  floral 
cross  at  his  feet.  Rich  bouquets  of  flowers,  sent  by  Mis, 
Grant  and  others,  also  decorated  the  apartment. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  NATIONAL  BEREAVEMENT.  —  OBSEQUIES  AT  WASH 
INGTON  AND  OTHER   CITIES.  —  BURIAL  AT 
NATICK. — MR.   WILSON'S   CHARACTER. 

The  National  Grief  at  the  Death  of  Mr.  Wilson.—  President  Grant's  Order. 

—  Honors  paid  to  the  Remains  at  Washington.  —  Dr.  Rankin's  Ad 
dress.  —  The  Baltimore  Fifth  Regiment.  —  Honors  at  Philadelphia; 
New  York.  —  Announcement  of  Gov.  Gaston.  —  Remarks  of  Mr. 
Stebbins;  of  Jiulge  Clark.  —  Reception  of  the  News  at  Natick.— 
Meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall.  —  Address  of  Gen.  Banks.  —  The  Remains 
in  Doric  Hall.  —  Memorial  Services  in  the  Honse  of  Representatives. 

—  Dr.  Manning's  Eulogy.  —  Services  at  Natick.  —  Address  of  the 
Revs.  E.  Dowse  and  F.  N.  Peloubet.  —  The  Burial  at  Dell  Park  Ceme 
tery.  —Mr.  Wilson's  Will.  —His  Character. 

THE  intelligence  of  the  death  of  the  Vice-President 
was  received  with  profound  emotion  by  the  whole 
country.  Flags  were  displayed  at  half-mast ;  minute- 
guns  were  fired;  bells  were  tolled;  the  United-States 
courts  were  adjourned ;  and  men  of  all  parties,  from 
Maine  to  Texas,  united  in  expressions  of  sorrow.  In 
the  afternoon  of  the  day  on  which  Mr.  Wilson  died, 
President  Grant  called  a  meeting  of  his  cabinet,  and 
issued  the  following  order  :  — 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION-, 

WASHINGTON,  Nov.  22,  1875. 

It  is  with  profound  sorrow  that  the  President  has  to 
announce  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  the  death 
of  the  Vice-President,  Henry  Wilson,  who  died  in  the 

427 


i28  LIFE   OF  HENRY   WILSON. 

Capitol  of  the  nation  this  morning.  The  eminent 
station  of  the  deceased,  his  high  character,  his  long 
career  in  the  service  of  his  State  and  of  the  Union,  his 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  freedom,  and  the  ability  which 
he  brought  to  the  discharge  of  every  duty,  stand  con 
spicuous,  and  are  indelibly  impressed  on  the  hearts  and 
affections  of  the  American  people.  In  testimony  of 
respect  for  this  distinguished  citizen  and  faithful  public 
servant,  the  various  departments  of  the  government  will 
be  closed  on  the  day  of  the  funeral ;  and  the  executive 
mansion,  and  all  the  executive  departments  in  Washing 
ton,  will  be  draped  with  badges  of  mourning  for  thirty 
days.  The  Secretary  of  War  and  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  will  issue  orders  that  appropriate  military  and 
naval  honors  be  rendered  to  the  memory  of  one  whose 
virtues  and  services  will  long  be  borne  in  recollection 
by  a  grateful  nation. 

U.  S.  GRANT. 

By  the  President, 

HAMILTON  FISH,  Secretary  of  State. 

On  Thursday,  the  body  of  Mr.  Wilson  in  a  costly 
casket,  resting  on  the  catafalque  which  bore  the  remains 
of  President  Lincoln,  Chief  Justice  Chase,  and  Senator 
Sumner,  lay  in  state  in  the  Rotunda  of  the  Capitol,  and 
was  visited  by  thousands,  who  bent  over  it  with  tearful 
emotion  and  profound  respect.  On  the  day  following, 
the  remains  were  removed  to  the  senate-chamber,  where 
at  half-past  ten,  A.M.,  the  nation,  through  its  highest 
officers,  performed  the  solemn  obsequies  in  honor  of  the 
dead.  The  day  was  ushered  in  by  the  firing  of  cannon 
and  the  tolling  of  bells ;  and,  though  dark  and  rainy, 
every  seat  in  the  galleries  was  occupied  long  before  the 


OBESQTJIES  IN   THE  SENATE-CHAMBER.  429 

services  commenced.  The  senate-chamber  draped  in 
mourning,  the  President  and  Cabinet,  the  Justices  of 
the  Supreme  Court  in  their  black  gowns,  the  members 
of  the  diplomatic  corps  (at  the  head  of  which  was  Sit 
Edward  Thornton),  the  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  in 
uniform,  and  the  committee  of  arrangements  with  white 
silk  sashes,  and  black-and-white  rosettes,  presented  a 
most  solemn  and  impressive  scene.  The  chair  of  the 
Vice-President  was  arrayed  in  crape,  Senator  Ferry 
occupying  another  seat.  When  the  casket,  borne  by 
twelve  soldiers,  and  followed  by  Mr.  Colbath  and  wife, 
with  other  relatives  of  the  deceased,  was  brought  into 
the  chamber,  the  entire  audience  arose ;  and  Dr.  Sunder- 
land,  chaplain  of  the  Senate,  pronounced  the  passage : 
"  Lord,  make  me  to  know  mine  end,"  &c.,  with  great 
solemnity  and  impress! veness.  Dr.  J.  E.  Rankin,  whose 
church  the  Vice-President  attended,  then  delivered  an 
appropriate  eulogy,  in  the  course  of  which  he  made  this 
just  distinction  between  the  character  of  Mr.  Wilson 
and  that  of  his  co-worker  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Sumner :  — 
"  It  is  beautiful  to  see  how  these  two  great  men  of 
Massachusetts,  born  one  year  apart,  starting  so  differ 
ently  in  life,  educated  so  differently,  supported  and 
complemented  each  other.  The  one,  a  man  of  books  ; 
the  other,  a  man  of  men :  the  one,  a  man  of  ideas ;  the 
other,  a  man  of  facts  :  the  one,  a  man  of  the  few  ;  the 
other,  a  man  of  the  many :  the  one  sometimes  almost 
losing  himself  in  his  distance  of  advance  before  the 
nation ;  the  other  always  keeping  step  with  the  grand 
movement  of  the  people,  going  forward  only  so  fast 
as  his  true  popular  instinct  taught  him  that  people 
were  ready  to  follow.  In  these  two  men,  so  unlike, 
and  yet  so  representative  of  the  extremes  in  American 


430  LIFE   OF  HENKY   WILSON. 

society,   was   the   New-England    idea    enshrined    and 
represented  on  this  floor." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  services  in  the  senate-cham 
ber,  the  procession  attended  the  funeral-car,  drawn  by 
six  white  horses  caparisoned  in  black,  with  solemn 
dirges,  and  with  cannon  pealing,  to  the  station  of  the 
Baltimore  and  Potomac  Railroad,  where  Senator  Thur- 
man  delivered  the  remains  to  the  charge  of  Massa 
chusetts  Committee  of  Arrangements,  which  left  for 
Baltimore  early  in  the  afternoon.  The  Fifth  Regiment 
of  that  city,  which  Mr.  Wilson  had  addressed,  and 
which  had  received  many  courteous  attentions  on  its 
late  visit  to  Boston,  tendered  its  services  as  an  escort 
of  the  body  to  its  final  resting-place;  but,  inasmuch 
as  many  other  military  organizations  had  done  the 
same,  it  was  thought  advisable  to  decline  the  offer. 
The  rotunda  of  the  new  City  Hall  in  Baltimore  was 
draped  in  mourning  for  the  reception  of  the  remains : 
and  demonstrations  of  sorrow  everywhere  prevailed. 
In  Philadelphia,  funeral-honors  were  imposingly  ren 
dered  to  the  body  of  the  beloved  statesman  in  Inde 
pendence  Hall,  on  Saturday,  where  as  many  as  ten 
thousand  people  passed  in  tearful  silence  by  the  beau 
tiful  casket.  The  hearse  was  drawn  by  ten  black 
horses  ;  the  chime  of  St.  Stephen's  Church  pealed  forth 
the  "Dead  March;"  and  business  was  generally  sus 
pended  along  the  streets  through  which  the  solemn 
cortege  passed.  The  remains  were  escorted  through 
jhe  city  of  New  York  by  a  military  force,  consisting 
of  several  regiments,  followed  by  representatives  of 
the  State  and  City  authorities,  the  Board  of  Trade, 
the  Republican  Central  Committee,  and  the  New-Eng 
land  Society.  Guns  were  fired,  and  expressions  of 
public  sorrow  manifested  in  all  sections  of  the  city. 


ANNOUNCEMENT  OF   HIS  DEATH   IN   BOSTON.     431 

While  the  death  of  Mr.  Wilson,  who  was  perhaps 
personally  known  by  more  people  than  any  other  states 
man  of  his  time,  produced  a  deep  impression  of  sorrow 
through  the  entire  country,  which  might  be  said  to  be 
all  arrayed  in  mourning,  it  was  in  Boston  and  vicinity, 
where  he  had  spent  so  many  of  his  days,  and  where 
his  sterling  virtues  were  best  understood,  that  the 
national  loss  was  most  profoundly  felt,  and  the  mani 
festation  of  grief  the  most  prolonged  and  touching. 
On  the  reception  of  the  sad  intelligence  of  Mr.  Wilson's 
death,  Gov.  Gaston  made  the  announcement :  — 

COMMONWEALTH  OF  MASSACHUSETTS, 
EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  BOSTON,  Nov.  22,  1875. 

It  becomes  my  most  painful  duty  to  announce  to 
the  people  of  this  Commonwealth  the  death  of  Vice- 
President  Wilson,  which  occurred  at  the  Capitol  at 
Washington,  this  morning,  at  twenty  minutes  past 
seven  o'clock. 

The  loss  of  this  pure  and  distinguished  statesman 
and  honest  man  will  be  the  cause  of  great  mourning 
throughout  the  country,  and  especially  in  the  State  in 
which  he  resided,  where  he  was  best  known,  and  there 
fore  most  highly  honored. 

WILLIAM  GASTON. 

A  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  was  held; 
resolves  were  passed,  and  addresses  made,  in  the  course 
of  which  Mr.  Stebbins  said,  — 

"  For  a  period  of  nearly  forty  years,  his  struggles, 
defeats,  and  labors,  which  were  crowned  in  his  later 
years  with  reward  and  honor,  have  closely  identified 
the  name  of  Henry  Wilson  with  the  history  of  Massa 
chusetts  and  of  our  country.  His  life  has  ever  been 


432  LIFE  OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

an  incentive  to  the  common  people  in  their  aspirations 
by  honest  personal  labor  to  reach  a  higher  level.  His 
death  will  teach  the  lesson  and  value  of  personal 
integrity,  which  enabled  him  to  withstand  the  tempta 
tions  which  ever  surrounded  his  years  of  public  service. 
His  labors  in  behalf  of  the  oppressed  will  endear  his 
memory  in  their  hearts ;  and  on  the  memorial  which 
will  mark  his  last  resting-place  should  be  engraved, 
4  He  served  his  imperilled  country  faithfully,  withstood 
temptations,  and  died  an  honest  man." 

u  The  good  and  true  never  die,  never  die: 
They  live  in  our  hearts,  ever  nigh,  ever  nigh.'  " 

The  United-States  District  Court  was  adjourned ;  and, 
in  his  address,  Judge  Clark  appropriately  said,  — 

"  There  is  a  beautiful  prayer  of  Eastern  poetry, '  May 
you  die  among  your  kindred  ! '  The  Vice-President  has 
died,  not  among  his  kindred  in  the  ordinary  sense,  nor 
in  the  land  of  his  nativity,  but  in  the  broader  sense,  — 
among  the  American  people,  who  were  his  kinsmen,  at 
the  nation's  capital,  at  the  place  of  his  highest  useful 
ness,  and  the  scene  of  his  greatest  activities.  Fortunate 
in  his  life,  fortunate  in  his  death.  Eminently  fit  it 
is  that  we  pause,  and  recognize  the  solemnity  of  the 
occasion.  .  .  .  When  a  public  servant  falls  by  death,  it 
is  a  public  loss ;  and  the  nation  mourns.  But  when  a 
person  so  eminently  active,  wise,  honest,  and  good,  as 
was  Henry  Wilson,  dies,  the  public  heart  is  well-nigh 
crushed.  The  Court  has  no  inclination  to  proceed  with 
the  business  of  the  day ;  and  sure  it  is  that  Massachu 
setts,  called  so  lately  to  bury  her  illustrious  senator, 
will  pause,  and  let  fall  bitter  tears,  as  she  receives  to  the 
bosom  of  her  soil  the  remains  of  the  late  Vice-President 


RECEPTION   OF  THE  NEWS   IN   NATICK.  433 

to  rest  in  fit  companionship  with  him  by  whose  side  he 
struggled  so  heroically  in  the  nation's  peril. 

"  The  Court  will  now  adjourn  until  to-morrow." 

On  the  reception  of  the  mournful  news  at  Natick,  the 
bells  were  tolled,  a  public  meeting  was  held,  at  which 
eulogistic  speeches  were  made ;  and  this  among  other 
resolutions  was  unanimously  adopted :  — 

"  Resolved,  That,  in  the  death  of  Henry  Wilson,  our 
town  has  lost  a  valued  and  beloved  citizen;  and  as 
a  people,  without  regard  to  sectarian  or  party  lines, 
we  unitedly  mourn  the  loss  of  one  whose  character  and 
career  have  reflected  so  much  honor  upon  the  town  of 
his  adoption." 

A  committee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Dunn  and  Turner 
of  the  Executive  Council,  and  Cols.  Wyman  and  Camp 
bell  of  Gov.  Gaston's  staff,  were  appointed  to  convey  the 
remains  of  the  Vice-President  to  Massachusetts ;  and  on 
Saturday,  Nov.  27,  a  large  memorial  meeting  was  held 
in  Faneuil  Hall,  in  which  eloquent  tributes  of  respect 
were  paid  to  the  dead  by  Mayor  Cobb,  Gov.  William 
Gaston,  Gen.  N.  P.  Banks,  Hon.  E.  R.  Hoar,  Hon. 
Charles  F.  Adams,  and  George  L.  Ruffin,  Esq.  The 
hall  was  festooned  in  black  and  white ;  and  the  white 
bust  of  Mr.  Wilson  stood  upon  the  platform.  In  the 
course  of  his  remarks,  Gov.  Gaston  most  truly  said,  — 

"A  statesman  has  gone  to  his  rest,  and  a  nation 
mourns.  The  benediction  of  a  people  grateful  for  his 
services  will  follow  him  to  his  grave.  Such,  under  the 
providence  of  God,  even  in  this  world,  are  the  final 
rewards  of  an  honest  and  well-spent  life.  By  his  energy, 
his  ability,  and  his  merit,  he  trod  the  various  paths  of 
honor,  until  he  reached  almost  the  highest  office  in  the 
gift  of  forty  millions  of  people.  From  his  example  and 

37 


434  LIFE  OF  HENRY   WILSON. 

success,  the  humblest  boy  in  the  nation  may  learn  that 
in  this  republic  there  are  no  summits  upon  which  his 
eyes  may  not  rest,  or  upon  which  his  feet  may  not 
stand." 

In  his  eloquent  eulogy,  Gen.  Banks  paid  this  noble 
tribute  to  his  lamented  friend  :  — 

"  It  was  the  choice  and  the  privilege  of  every  man  in 
this  country  to  fashion  his  own  career.  Mr.  Wilson 
made  his  choice,  and  worked  out  his  own  career.  It 
was  a  majestic,  a  multitudinous  constituency,  of  'which 
he  became  at  once  the  distinguished  representative.  It 
was  for  the  poor  and  the  oppressed  that  he  gave  his  life 
long  services,  in  the  same  category  with  Messrs.  Burlin- 
game,  Rantoul,  Simmer,  and  others,  among  whom  he  was 
entitled  to  a  distinguished  position.  There  may  have 
been  momentary  departures  ;  but  he  always  returned  to 
duty  with  unfailing  fidelity  and  with  undaunted  hero 
ism.  It  was  necessary  for  such  men  to  work  constantly 
among  the  masses  of  the  people,  whom  he  represented. 
As  a  practical  man,  he  stood  one  of  the  first  and  fore 
most  of  the  time.  In  all  that  information  which  was 
more  necessary  for  government  than  all  the  learning  of 
the  schools,  he  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  age. 

"  Added  to  this,  he  had  an  unceasing  activity,  an  exu 
berance  of  strength,  and  a  determination  of  personal 
character,  that  enabled  him  fully  to  acquaint  himself 
with  the  wants  and  feelings  of  the  people.  He  had  left 
behind  him,  through  his  energy,  and  his  devotion  to  prin 
ciple,  a  reputation  second  to  none  in  our  day,  and  which 
entitled  him  to  the  respect,  the  love,  the  enduring  remem 
brance,  of  all  his  fellow-men  in  this  and  in  coming  years." 

The  funeral  train,  draped  in  mourning,  arrived  in  Bos 
ton  at  half-past  ten  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  Nov. 


THE  BODY  IN  DORIC  HALL.  435 

28,  where  it  was  awaited  by  a  vast  cone  ourse  of  sincere 
mourners,  who  felt  that  they  had  lost  a  personal  friend. 
Amid  the  tolling  of  bells  and  other  signs  of  general 
lamentation,  the  casket  was  escorted  by  the  Independent 
Cadets  to  the  Doric  Hall  in  the  State  House,  where 
Col.  Wyman,  delivering  it  to  Gov.  Gaston,  spoke  as 
follows :  — 

u  YOUR  EXCELLENCY,  —  In  obedience  to  your  orders, 
we  proceeded  to  Washington,  where  we  received  from 
the  National  Committee  the  remains  of  the  late  Vice- 
President ;  and  we  have  escorted  them  to  this  place." 

To  which  his  Excellency  replied  :  — 

"  Massachusetts  receives  from  you  her  illustrious 
dead.  She  will  see  to  it  that  he  whose  dead  body  you 
bear  to  us,  but  whose  spirit  has  entered  upon  its  higher 
service,  shall  receive  honors  befitting  the  great  office 
which  in  life  he  held ;  and  I  need  not  assure  you  that 
her  people,  with  hearts  full  of  respect,  of  love,  and  of 
veneration,  will  not  only  guard  and  protect  the  body, 
the  coffin,  and  the  grave,  but  will  also  ever  cherish  his 
name  and  fame.  Gentlemen,  for  the  pious  service 
which  you  have  so  kindly  and  tenderly  rendered,  ac 
cept  the  thanks  of  a  grateful  Commonwealth." 

Doric  Hall  was  heavily  draped  in  black,  the  battle- 
flags  being  looped  with  crape,  and  covering  the  can 
nons  ;  while  Mr.  Wilson's  monogram  rested  on  a  black 
curtain  at  the  head  of  the  catafalque.  A  harp  com 
posed  of  white  roses  and  other  flowers  rested  on  the 
casket ;  while  a  cross  and  crown  of  violets  and  roses, 
and  of  elegant  design,  stood  at  the  head,  and  an  anchor 
of  funereal-flowers  at  the  foot,  of  the  casket.  A  single 


436  LIFE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. 

soldier,  immovable  as  a  statue,  guarded  the  remains, 
as  the  vast  throng,  amounting,  it  might  have  been,  to 
twenty  thousand,  filed  in  silence  through  the  hall,  and 
gazed  for  the  last  time  on  the  pallid  features  of  the 
beloved  advocate  of  civil  progress,  freedom,  and  fra 
ternity. 

Eloquent  memorial  discourses  were  pronounced  in 
many  of  the  churches  during  the  day  ;  among  which 
those  of  Dr.  D.  C.  Eddy,  Dr.  George  C.  Lorimer,  Dr. 
S.  F.  Upham  of  Lynn,  of  the  Revs.  M.  J.  Savage,  J. 
B.  Dunn,  and  Henry  A.  Cooke,  evinced  a  just  appre 
ciation  of  the  exalted  worth  of  the  deceased  Vice- 
President. 

On  Monday,  Nov.  29,  the  citizens  of  Massachusetts, 
through  the  State  officers,  performed  the  obsequies  of 
the  Vice-President  in  a  style  of  grandeur  and  solemnity 
that  evinced  the  depth  of  sorrow  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Commonwealth.  The  public  buildings  generally  were 
closed ;  flags  were  placed  at  half-mast ;  mourning- 
emblems  were  displayed  on  many  private  residences ; 
and  half-hour  guns  were  fired.  The  Hall  of  Repre 
sentatives  was  most  elaborately  decorated  with  festoons 
of  smilax  intwined  with  delicate  white  flowers.  The 
speaker's  desk,  draped  with  black  cloth,  was  almost 
covered  with  flowers ;  while  on  that  of  the  clerk  was 
placed  a  stately  shaft  composed  of  tuberoses,  camellias, 
and  white  pinks,  and  resting  on  a  base  of  ferns  and 
other  graceful  leaves.  The  catafalque  opposite  the 
speaker's  desk  was  decorated  with  tender  vines  and 
roses.  The  pall-bearers,  ex-Govs.  Boutwell,  Banks, 
Gardner,  Washburn,  Bullock,  Claflin,  together  with  the 
Hon.  A.  H.  Rice,  the  Hon.  Carl  Schurz,  and  Frederick 
Douglass,  entered  about  twelve  o'clock,  followed  by 


MB.  MANNING'S  DISCOURSE.  437 

other  dignitaries  of  the  State,  and  friends  of  the  de 
ceased.  The  services  were  opened  by  the  solemn 
strains  of  the  anthem,  "I  heard  a  voice  saying  unto 
me,  Write,"  from  a  quartet  of  Dr.  Eben  Tourjee. 
Dr.  A.  A.  Miner  then  followed  with  an  impressive 
prayer.  Dr.  W.  F.  Warren  presented  selections  from 
the  Scriptures.  The  Rev.  Phillips  Brooks  read  a  chant, 
"  Lord,  let  me  know  mine  end,  the  number  of  my 
days,"  to  which  the  choir  responded ;  and  Dr.  J.  M. 
Manning  then  delivered  a  discourse  from  the  words, 
"  Thy  gentleness  hath  made  me  great,"  which  was 
worthy  of  the  man  and  of  the  occasion.  Of  the  many 
eloquent  passages  we  can  cite  only  the  following,  the 
former  referring  to  Mr.  Wilson's  almost  superhuman 
labors  in  the  Senate,  and  the  latter  to  his  departure 
from  the  scenes  of  earth :  — 

"  At  length  the  gathering  cloud  burst.  It  could  not 
be  averted :  the  storm  must  come.  God  foreknew  this 
as  we  did  not ;  and  the  men  whom  his  gentleness  had 
been  lifting  up  were  ready,  each  for  his  solemn  part. 
To  Henry  Wilson  fell  the  chairmanship  of  military 
affairs ;  and  the  prodigious  capacity  for  work  which  he 
showed  in  that  place  is  known  to  all  who  saw  him  there. 
What  president  or  cabinet  officer,  what  general  in  the 
field,  what  governor,  or  regiment,  or  patient  in  the  hos 
pital,  or  soldier's  widow,  ever  had  occasion  to  complain 
of  him  ?  The  general-iii-chief  at  the  opening  of  the  war 
said  that  his  daily  task  was  equal  to  the  strength  of  ten 
men.  Thus  he  toiled  till  the  forces  of  the  Rebellion 
were  spent.  And  in  the  clear  dawn  of  peace,  during 
the  weary  efforts  at  reconstruction,  which  were  finally 
successful,  the  problem  of  his  life  was  solved.  We  all 
saw  for  what  God  had  made  and  endowed  him,  in  the 

37* 


438  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

light  of  the  terrible  exigency  which  had  been  his  grand 
opportunity.  .  .  . 

"  '  You  will  ride  out  to-day,  Mr.  Vice-President,'  said 
his  attendant,  just  as  his  last  earthly  dawn  was  fading 
into  the  everlasting  morning.  He  did  ride  out,  but  not 
in  any  material  vehicle.  The  '  chariot  of  God  was  in" 
waiting  for  him.  He  rode  out  of  death  into  life,  out 
of  the  shadow  into  eternal  sunlight,  out  of  corruption 
into  incorruption." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  eulogy,  the  vast  audience 
united  in  singing  Mrs.  Adams's  beautiful  hymn,  — 

"  Nearer,  my  God,  to  thee." 

Dr.  R.  H.  Neale  offered  an  appropriate  prayer;  the 
choir  sang  with  touching  effect,  — 

" Unveil  thy  bosom,  faithful  tomb; " 

and  the  Rev.  Phillips  Brooks  pronounced  the  benedic 
tion. 

A  procession,  consisting  of  a  long  array  of  military 
forces,  —  among  which  was  the  Twenty-second  Regi 
ment,  of  which  Mr.  Wilson  was  the  original  commander, 
government  officials,  and  civic  organizations,  —  attended 
the  remains,  while  guns  were  pealing,  bells  were  tolling, 
and  bands  performing  dirges,  to  the  station  at  Cottage 
Farm,  from  which  the  casket  was  conveyed,  under  a 
special  guard,  to  Natick  for  the  final  obsequies.  Here 
it  was  received  at  Concert  Hall,  which  was  tastefully 
draped  in  funereal  emblems,  by  Mr.  C.  H.  Perry,  on 
behalf  of  the  mourning  citizens,  who  came  with  tear 
ful  eyes  to  view  the  sacred  dust  of  their  distinguished 
and  beloved  townsman.  On  the  day  following,  private 


FTOEBAL  SERVICES  AT  NATICK.  439 

funeral  services  were  held  at  the  house  of  the  Vice- 
President,  on  Central  Street,  on  account  of  the  in 
ability  of  Mrs.  Howe,*  his  aged  mother-in-law,  to  be 
present  at  the  Hall.  They  were  conducted  by  the 
Rev.  A.  E.  Reynolds  and  the  Rev.  Edmund  Dowse, 
the  latter  of  whom,  a  long  and  intimate  friend  of  the 
departed,  said,  in  substance,  — 

"  We  are  to-day  gathered  in  the  home  of  Henry 
Wilson.  Here  he  lived  for  many  years.  Here  he 
enjoyed  the  sweets  of  domestic  life.  Here  he  watched 
over  a  loving  wife  in  sickness,  and,  when  her  spirit 
passed  away,  with  loving  hand  bore  her  remains  to  a 
resting-place  in  yonder  cemetery.  Here  he  rested  from 
his  labors,  and,  could  he  have  had  his  wish,  he  would 
have  closed  his  eyes  in  this  house  upon  the  world  and 
its  cares,  amidst  friends  and  relations.  But  God  decreed 
otherwise.  We  feel  to-day  that  darkness  is  around  and 
about  us  ;  yet  we  have  full  faith  in  the  saying,  that  light 
dwelleth  with  the  righteous.  Here  in  this  house, 
though  the  former  occupant  sleeps  in  dust,  is  the  holy 
Bible ;  here  is  the  family  altar  he  created  ;  and  from  all 
these  sources  comes  to  us  to-day  comfort,  preparing  us 
to  say,  'Even  so,  Father  :  thy  will  be  done,  not  mine.' ' 
The  minister  closed  with  a  touching  allusion  to  the 
great  kindness  manifested  by  Mr.  Wilson  to  his  aged 
mother-in-law. 

The  remains  were  then  carried  back  to  the  Hall, 
from  the  ceiling  of  which  was  suspended  a  large  black 
canopy  having  a  beautiful  wreath  of  flowers  beneath, 

*  Mr*.  Mary  (Toombs)  Howe,  relict  of  Mr.  Amasa  Howe,  is  the  daughter  of 
Joseph  and  Mary  (Homer)  Toombs  of  Hopkinton.  He  was  born  in  1750,  and  wag 
the  son  of  Daniel  Toombs,  who  married  Mary  Collen,  Oct.  3,  1739.  They  were  of 
Scotch-Irish  descent,  and  among  the  early  settlers  of  Hopkinton.  Amasa  Howa 
(son  of  Perley  Howe,  and  his  wife  Anna  Hill  of  Medway)  was  descended  from 
Hezekiah  Howe,  who  married  Jane  Jennison  of  Sudbury,  Oct.  81,  1746. 


440  LIFE  OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

that  sent  forth  a  white  dove  with  unfolded  wings,  directly 
over  the  coffin,  which  was  also  covered  with  flowers. 
The  services  were  opened  by  singing,  — 

"  God  is  our  strength;" 

when  the  Rev.  A.  E.  Reynolds  offered  a  tender 
prayer ;  the  Rev.  J.  S.  Whedon  read  selections  from 
the  Scriptures ;  the  response,  "  Abide  with  Me," 
was  sung  ;  and  admirable  addresses  were  made  by  the 
Rev.  Edmund  Dowse  and  the  Rev.  Francis  N.  Peloubet, 
pastor  of  the  church  of  which  Mr.  Wilson  was  a  mem 
ber.  In  the  course  of  his  eulogy,  Mr.  Peloubet  said, 
"  He  needs  no  monument  to  show  where  he  died  ;  for 
he  built  his  own  monument  here,  by  which  men  shall 
remember  where  he  lived.  We  are  surrounded  by  his 
labors  as  by  a  great  cloud  of  witnesses. 

"Is  there  a  work-bench  that  is  not  made  more  sacred 
and  honorable  and  hopeful,  because  Henry  Wilson  for 
years  worked  at  one,  and  while  there  gained  his  educa 
tion,  and  grew  into  larger  powers  ?  Is  there  a  young 
man  whose  heart  does  not  expand,  and  hopes  grow 
brighter,  because  Henry  Wilson  contended  with  the 
same  difficulties,  fought  the  same  temptations,  encoun 
tered  the  same  trials,  and  came  off  conqueror  ? 

"  We  look  at  our  beautiful  library,  and  remember  that 
Henry  Wilson  was  the  first,  or  one  of  the  first,  sub 
scribers  to  the  fund  from  which  the  town  library  grew. 
We  think  of  our  schools,  and  remember  that  he  was 
once  a  teacher  in  them  ;  and  more,  under  what  hard 
schoolmasters,  after  what  hard  days'  works,  by  what 
light  of  the  kitchen-fire,  he  gained  his  education. 

"  We  look  at  our  thriving  churches,  and  remember 
that  he  was  a  Christian,  and  took  a  deep  interest  in  all 


ME.  PELOUBET'S  ADDRESS.  441 

that  pertains  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  His  voice  was 
heard  in  the  prayer-meeting.  He  helped  found,  and  was 
one  of  the  most  liberal  supporters  of,  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association. 

"  Henry  Wilson  made  many  speeches  ;  but  the  best 
speech  was  his  life  and  character  at  home.  He  longed 
to  finish  the  book  he  was  writing  ;  but  Natick  itself  is 
his  best  book,  known  and  read  by  all. 

"  To  us,  his  fellow-townsmen,  many  lessons  come  from 
yonder  coffin.  His  spirit  seems  to  come  back  from  the 
mansions  of  the  blest,  and,  taking  us  each  by  the  hand, 
points  to  the  lessons  he  has  lived,  written  in  letters  as 
bright  as  the  light  on  the  emblems  of  mourning.  Let 
us  read  them :  Religion,  temperance,  industry,  patriot 
ism,  courage,  principle,  character.  He  shows  how  we 
may  gain  an  education.  He  shows  us  the  way  to  true 
success.  He  shows  us  the  possibilities  of  good  before  us 
all,  —  what  we  can  be,  and  what  we  can  do,  if  we  will 
trust  God,  and  do  the  right;  that  the  circumstances 
which  would  hinder  us  may  be  made  stepping-stones 
of  success ;  that  the  enemies  which  bar  our  way  may 
be  made  soldiers  to  fight  our  battles  for  us ;  that  the 
burdens  which  would  crash  us  may  become  the  eagle's 
wing  to  bear  us  upward." 

At  the  close  of  Mr.  Peloubet's  address,  the  audience 
united  in  singing,  — 

"  Nearer,  my  God,  to  thee  ;  " 

and  the  Rev.  B.  R.  Gifford  pronounced  the  benediction. 
At  three  o'clock,  P.M.,  the  long  procession,  in  which  were 
the  officers  of  the  Maryland  Fifth  Regiment,  moved 
with  slow  and  reverent  step  to  the  Dell  Park  Cemetery, 
a  charming  eminence  that  overlooks  Cochituate  Lake 


442  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

and  the  town  of  Natick ;  and  there,  in  tearful  silence 
were  deposited,  just  as  the  sun  was  sinking  in  the  westi 
the  mortal  remains  of  the  illustrious  dead  in  their  final 
earthly  home.  The  lot  of  Mr.  Wilson,  in  the  north-east 
corner  of  the  burial-ground,  is  tastefully  ornamented 
with  shrubs  and  flowers,  and  contains  a  marble  sarcoph 
agus,  surmounted  by  a  hat,  feather,  sword,  belt,  and 
sash,  and  having  the  inscription  given  on  p.  870  of  this 
biography.  At  the  right  of  this  stands  a  well-wrought 
marble  headstone,  bearing  these  words  :  —  • 

"  Harriet  M.  Howe,  born  in  Natick,  Nov.  21,  1824;  married  to 
Henry  Wilson  Nov.  28,  1810;  died  May  28,  1870.  She  made 
home  happy. 

"  But  oh  for  the  touch  of  a  vanquished  hand. 
And  the  sound  of  a  voice  that  is  still  I "  * 

Beside  this  grave  the  body  of  the  late  Vice-President 
reposes. 

*  A  beautiful  white  lily  chiselled  on  this  monument,  and  intwined  by  an  ivy 
planted  by  the  bereaved  husband,  is  noticed  in  these  graceful  lines,  which  appeared 
In  the  Traveller  in  September,  1872 :  — 

A  lily  on  the  marble  slept, 

Emblem  of  one  whom  many  wept. 

Chiselled  by  the  sculptor's  care, 

It  lay  in  graceful  beauty  there, 

While  flowers  blooming  in  the  ground 

Shed  a  sweet  fragrance  all  around. 

A  little  ivy  planted  there, 

And  fostered  by  a  husband's  care, 

Had  with  its  clinging  tendrils  sought 

The  flower  on  the  marble  wrought, 

Then  'mid  the  lily's  leaves  so  fair, 

It  wove  its  green  ones  closely  there, 

As  to  the  emblem  it  would  cling 

And  a  rich,  leafy  tribute  bring, 

To  show  that  love  still  fondly  turned 

To  her  whose  form  was  there  inurned.  — E.  W.  S, 


PROPERTY   AND  RELATIVES.  443 

"  No  monument  a  broader  base  sustains 

Than  thine  must  have,  —  on  equal  rights  and  laws: 
No  memory  the  continent  retains 

Truer  to  God's  will  and  manhood's  holy  cause.*' 

At  a  little  distance,  in  the  same  lot,  stands  the  twin 
headstone  of  his  father  and  mother.  It  is  of  beautiful 
d  asign  ;  and  on  it  is  inscribed  :  — 

"  Winthrop  Colbath,  born  April  7, 1787;  died  Feb.  10, 1860;  and 
Abigail  Colbath,  born  March  21,  1785;  died  Aug.  8,  1866." 

In  his  will,  dated  April  21,  1874,  Mr.  Wilson  be 
queathed  all  his  property  of  whatever  kind  to  his 
nephew,  W.  L.  Coolidge,  to  be  held  in  trust  for  the 
benefit  of  his  venerable  mother-in-law,  Mrs.  Mary 
Howe,  for  the  support  and  education  of  his  adopted 
daughter,  Eva  Wilson,  an  intelligent  girl,  now  about 
ten  years  old,  and  under  the  charge  of  Mrs.  Fifield ;  and 
for  other  minor  purposes,  leaving  it  all  to  the  "  friend 
ship,  discretion,  and  sense  of  right"  of  Mr.  Coolidge, 
who  is  constituted  the  sole  executor.  The  whole  prop 
erty  will  not  exceed  810,000.  The  life  of  the  testator 
was  insured  for  $3,500.  The  third  and  last  volume  of 
Mr.  Wilson's  "  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave-Power,"  of 
which  about  sixteen  chapters  are  written,  will,  it  is 
supposed,  be  completed  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Hunt,  an 
intimate  friend,  and,  for  the  last  seven  years,  private 
secretary,  of  the  Vice-President.  Mr.  Wilson  left  four 
brothers,  all  of  whom  are  younger  than  himself ;  and  all 
are  married,  and  have  had  children.  John  Colbath,  the 
oldest,  is  a  farmer,  living  in  Compton,  Canada;  Charles 
H.,  who  married  Eliza  Newcomb,  is  a  stone-cutter, 
residing  in  Hingham,  Mass. ;  Samuel  is  a  doorkeeper  at 
the  United-States  Senate ;  and  George  Albert  is  an 
inspector  at  the  Custom  House  in  Boston. 


444  LIFE  OF   HENRY   WILSON. 

In  person,  Mr.  Wilson  was  robust  and  well  propor 
tioned.  He  was  five  feet,  ten  inches  in  height,  and 
weighed  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds.  With 
a  light  complexion  and  a  clear  skin,  his  whole  counte 
nance  glowed  with  health  and  vigor.  His  eyes  were 
quick  and  clear:  his  forehead,  broad  and  high.  The 
portrait  by  Mr.  Butre,  from  a  photograph  by  Mr.  Black, 
in  this  volume,  presents  his  features  with  correctness ; 
but  the  marble  bust  of  the  sculptor  Milmore,  intro 
duced  by  a  resolution  of  the  General  Court  into  the 
State  Library  in  May,  1872,  exhibits  something  more 
of  the  ideality  and  the  lofty  spirit  by  which  his  counte 
nance  was  in  his  happiest  hours  irradiated.  His  frame 
was  compact  and  solid,  and,  even  to  the  last,  bore  little 
indication  of  the  eventide  of  life.  In  dress  and  manner 
he  was  plain  and  unpretending,  and,  when  at  leisure,  re 
markably  frank,  open,  and  confiding  in  his  conversation. 

NOTE.  —  His  family,  as  has  been  stated,  belonged  to  that  excellent 
stock,  the  Scotch-Irish,  who  emigrated  to  New  England  in  the  begin 
ning  of  the  last  century.  The  earliest  form  in  which  his  family  name 
appears  in  this  country  is  Colbreath  ;  evidently  the  same  as  Calbreath, 
a  name  of  respectability  in  Scotland.  James  Colbreath  was  baptized 
Sept.  19,  1725,  at  Newington,  N.H.  ;  and  from  him  is  descended,  through 
Winthrop,  and  Winthrop,  jun.,  the  subject  of  this  memoir.  The  chil 
dren  of  James  and  Olive  Colbreath  were  Leighton,  Independence,  Win 
throp,  Hunking,  Benning,  Keziah,  Deborah,  and  Amy.  His  son  Wiuthrop 
married  Hannah  Rollins  of  Newington,  N.H.,  and  they  removed  to 
Rochester,  now  Farmington,  about  1783,  or  a  little  anterior  to  the  birth 
of  Winthrop,  Mr.  Wilson's  father.  The  name  Colbreath  is  among  those 
Scottish  emigrants  who  petitioned  Gov.  Shute  for  permission  to  settle  in 
this  State.  They  were  largely  from  Argyleshire  in  Scotland.  The  coat- 
of-arms  of  the  Colbreath  family  is,  "  Bendy  of  six  argent  and  azure  on 
a  chief  sable,  three  crosses  patte'e  or."  — BURKE' s  ENCYCLOPEDIA  OF 
HERALDRY. 

As  an  orator,  Mr.  Wilson  was  strong  and  vehement, 
rather  than  bland  and  graceful.  He  cared  but  little 


RECORD  AS   A  SPEAKER.  445 

for  the  rules  of  the  rhetorician,  and  seldom  turned 
aside  in  search  of  ornament :  still  he  studied  the  best 
English  and  American  models,  —  Pitt,  Burke,  Sheridan, 
Adams,  Wirt,  Webster,  —  and  used  elevated,  or  what 
might  be  termed  forensic  diction.  Grasping  his  subject 
firmly,  he  presented  his  propositions  with  distinctness, 
and  defended  them  by  a  constant  appeal  to  facts.  His 
memory  was  an  inexhaustible  magazine  of  facts  ;  and 
out  they  came  as  solid  shot  from  a  columbiad,  to  break 
up  the  intrenchment  of  his  enemy. 

His  great  speeches  in  reply  to  Mr.  Hammond,  in 
reply  to  Mr.  Butler,  as  well  as  those  on  the  Pacific  Rail 
road,  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  and  the  Crittenden 
Compromise,  consist  mainly  of  statements,  or  citations 
of  matters  of  fact.  With  some  speakers,  such  a  liberal 
use  of  facts  would  be  intolerable ;  but  with  Mr.  Wilson 
they  were  so  pertinently  selected,  and  so  earnestly 
presented,  that  they,  in  general,  commanded  profound 
attention. 

With  kindly  sympathies  and  an  earnest  purpose, 
with  an  open  countenance,  a  clear,  strong  voice,  and 
animated  gestures,  Mr.  Wilson  always  secured  the 
attention  of  a  popular  assembly  ;  and  his  words,  where 
more  finished  speakers  failed,  were  greeted  with  ap 
plause./  He  found  the  way  to  the  heart  of  the  people  ; 
and  that  is  something  higher  than  any  studied  elo 
quence. 

He  made  his  loftiest  record  as  a  speaker  in  the 
senate- chamber.  In  most  of  the  stirring  debates  that 
agitated  the  country  during  its  most  tremendous  strug 
gle,  he  took  a  leading  part.  He  measured  blades  with 
most  of  the  veteran  champions  of  the  South,  —  Toombs, 
Davis,  Benton,  Hammond,  Butler,  Breckenridge,  —  and 


446  LIFE  OF   HENEY   WILSON. 

often  gained  the  mastery.  Many  of  his  brief  speeches 
here  are  models  of  forensic  eloquence  ;  and  parts  of 
some  of  them  have  found  their  way  into  our  reading- 
books.  Of  his  speaking  and  his  influence  in  the  Senate, 
a  letter-writer  at  Washington,  March  16,  1867,  said,  — 

"  But  yesterday  he  rose  to  speak  in  the  middle  of 
the  protracted  debate  on  the  Supplementary  Recon 
struction  Bill ;  and  at  once  the  great  indifference  dis 
appeared.  Senators  on  every  side  turned  from  their 
papers  and  letters  to  listen ;  and  what  Mr.  Wilson  had 
to  say  was  attended  to  with  a  greater  degree  of  interest 
and  respect  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  than  had  been 
given  to  any  thing  which  had  fallen  from  the  lips  of 
Mr.  Sumner,  Mr.  Sherman,  Mr.  Fessenden,  or,  in  fact, 
of  anybody  else,  since  I  have  been  an  observer  in  the 
galleries.  Such  a  phenomenon  must  mean  something ; 
and,  listening  to  the  remarks  of  the  Massachusetts  sen 
ator  myself,  I  found  the  explanation  in  the  fact  that 
he  talked  more  directly  to  the  matter  in  hand,  with 
more  of  fact,  and  less  of  theory,  more  of  substance,  and 
less  of  ornament,  than  any  other  speaker  who  had  taken 
part  in  the  debate  ;  and  so  I  concluded  that  Congress, 
if  not  also  the  country,  on  this  subject  of  reconstruc 
tion  at  any  rate,  has  had  enough  of  rhetoric,  and  enough 
of  oratory,  and  has  an  appetite  only  for  those  plain 
facts  of  the  need  of  the  day,  which  Mr.  Wilson  so 
forcibly  urged." 

Had  Mr.  Wilson  read  more  of  the  classic  poets,  his 
style  might,  indeed,  have  had  more  finish,  but  not,  per 
haps,  more  force.  Great  national  crises  demand  of 
leaders,  not  smooth,  rounded  periods,  and  rhetorical 
flourishes,  but  substantial  facts,  strong  argumentation, 
and  honest  purpose  :  these  Mr.  Wilson  had,  and  hence 
the  Senate  and  the  people  heard  him  gladly. 


VIEWS   AS  A  STATESMAN.  447 

His  reasoning  was  sustained  by  the  grand  argument 
of  a  consistent  life :  hence  it  came  home  to  the  con 
science,  and  was  fraught  with  power.  No  man  of  his 
time,  perhaps,  addressed  so  many  people  in  America  as 
Henry  Wilson  ;  and  none,  perhaps,  spoke  so  few  words 
that  he,  if  living,  would  wish  to  have  unsaid.  On 
rising  to  speak  before  an  audience,  his  manly  form,  his 
honest,  open,  florid  face,  and  sympathetic  voice,  bespoke 
for  him  a  generous  reception.  The  people  saw  at  once 
that  "honesty,  poverty,  and  politics  had  agreed  with 
him,  and  that  a  congressman  might  ignore  crime,  keep 
a  clean  palm,  hold  his  Maker  in  remembrance,  and  yet 
wear  a  rosy,  unclouded  face."  Thus  he  moved  the 
masses  to  accept  his  counsels,  and  translate  them  into 
practice ;  and,  if  this  be  not  eloquence,  it  is  something 
above  eloquence :  it  is,  in  the  words  of  Webster,  "  Ac 
tion, —  noble,  sublime,  Godlike  action." 

As  a  statesman,  Mr.  Wilson's  views  were  broad  and 
comprehensive,  and  at  the  same  time  eminently  practical. 
The  works  of  the  immortal  sages  —  Washington,  Ham 
ilton,  Adams,  Jefferson,  Jay,  Marshall,  and  others  who 
laid  the  foundation  of  this  government  —  were  his  life 
long  study:  in  their  spirit  and  opinions,  his  political 
education  was  perfected.  His  inspiration  came  indeed 
from  a  still  higher  source,  —  the  instructions  of  the  Son 
of  Mary.  The  great  principles  of  equality,  fraternity, 
civil  and  religious  freedom,  and  social  progress,  formed 
the  basis  of  his  political  system ;  and,  having  confidence 
in  the  stability  of  popular  government  so  administered, 
he  labored  with  invincible  determination  to  defend 
those  principles.  Because  he  apprehended  with  such 
clearness  the  extent  and  bearing  of  a  present  exigency, 
so  quickly  saw  the  tendency  and  drift  of  things,  some 


448  LIFE  OF  HENRY   WILSON. 

thought  that  his  political  views  were  superficial  rather 
than  profound  ;  but  a  rapid  river  may  be  also  deep  and 
strong.  Mr.  Wilson  was  a  thinker,  grasping  as  easily  the 
broadest  principle  as  the  most  restricted  precept ;  and 
he  had  the  power  to  examine  them  either  under  the  light 
of  past  experience,  of  present  utility,  or  of  future  good. 
His  view  of  the  slavery-question  from  the  outset,  his 
forecast  of  the  final  issue,  his  legislation  for  the  conduct 
of  the  war,  and  his  conviction  of  the  grand  result,  most 
clearly  manifest  the  scope,  as  well  as  the  accuracy,  of  his 
vision.  While  he  was  a  sound,  sagacious  statesman,  he 
at  the  same  time  possessed  great  administrative  ability. 
He  framed  a  bill  with  remarkable  precision,  and  carried 
it  through  its  various  stages  up  to  its  final  passage  with 
surprising  speed  and  skill.  It  has  been  said  that  more 
than  half  the  legislation  in  Congress  during  the  civil 
war  was  done  by  Massachusetts,  and  certainly  enough 
of  that  by  the  military  senator  to  entitle  him  to  a  grand 
historic  position  in  the  annals  of  the  nation. 

As  a  writer,  Mr.  Wilson's  style  is  characterized  by 
perspicuity,  force,  and  dignity.  His  figures,  when  they 
do  occur,  are  striking ;  his  quotations  from  the  poets, 
apt  and  pertinent ;  his  pictures,  strongly  drawn,  and 
sharp  in  outline.  He  had  no  turn  for  wit  or  humor : 
indeed,  the  subjects  on  which  he  wrote  do  not  demand 
it.  His  periods  are,  in  general,  well  rounded  and  har 
monious.  His  last  work  is  his  best ;  and  this,  in  point 
of  diction,  as  well  as  in  respect  to  accuracy  of  statement, 
cogency  of  reasoning,  scope  of  vision,  and  unity  of  con 
struction,  will  rank  with  the  writings  of  the  best  histo 
rians  of  America. 

As  a  man,  Mr.  Wilson  was  intensely  earnest  and  sin 
cere.  He  had  a  wonderfolly  quick  conception  of  what 


HIS  BRAYERY  AND  KINDNESS.  449 

was  just  and  right :  he  dared  to  act  on  his  convictions, 
and  this  was  one  secret  of  his  power.  He  had  no  fear 
of  his  antagonist :  he  never  cowered  in  front  of  danger. 
In  every  trying  crisis  of  his  life,  he  stood  a  hero,  un 
daunted  and  un terrified.  At  the  first  National  Repub 
lican  Convention  in  Philadelphia,  when  an  assault  was 
anticipated,  he  came  upon  the  "  platform  with  a  stout 
hickory  cane  in  his  hand,  and,  after  the  protracted  ap 
plause  which  greeted  him  had  subsided,  commenced 
very  deliberately  and  emphatically  as  follows :  '  I  learn 
that  there  is  much  apprehension  existing  here  and  at 
the  North  in  regard  to  the  peril  which  your  senators 
and  representatives  are  supposed  to  be  in  at  the  national 
capital,  in  consequence  of  their  non-combative  princi 
ples.  Gentlemen,  I  beg  you  to  dismiss  your  fears. 
Your  public  servants  there  have  made  up  their  minds, 
and  know  how  to  defend  their  persons,  whenever,  how 
ever,  by  whomsoever,  attacked.'  A  storm  of  the  wild 
est  cheers  told  how  accurately  the  senator  had  read  the 
temper  of  the  convention." 

So  when  a  musket-ball  was  fired  into  the  assembly 
which  he  was  addressing  in  New  Orleans,  and  struck 
into  the  ceiling  near  his  head,  he  manifested  no  emotion, 
but  proceeded  with  his  address  as  steadily  as  if  nothing 
lead  occurred. 

He  was  large-hearted,  self-sacrificing,  and  liberal  to  a 
fault.  He  was  a  friend  of  the  friendless,  and  a  com 
passionate  comforter  of  the  poor  and  needy.  Here  is  a 
single  instance  among  thousands  that  could  be  cited. 
An  Irish  boy  was  killed  by  the  cars,  while  his  mother, 
for  drunkenness,  was  an  inmate  of  the  House  of  Correc 
tion.  She  had  an  intense  desire  to  see  her  son's  re 
mains  ;  but  no  one  could  remove  her.  Mr.  Wilson  then 

38* 


450  LIFE  OF   HENRY  WILSON. 

went  himself  to  Cambridge,  gave  bonds  for  her  return, 
took  her  in  the  cars  to  Natick,  gave  her  his  arm,  and 
escorted  her  to  the  house,  and,  when  the  funeral  services 
were  over,  went  back  with  her  to  the  prison.  Though 
having  it  in  his  power  to  hoard  millions,  he  lived  and 
died  comparatively  poor.  He  was  ever  in  liveliest  sym 
pathy  with  the  working-classes.  From  them  he  sprang ; 
with  them  he  fought  the  battle  for  free  labor ;  and  for 
their  rights,  their  social,  moral,  and  intellectual  elevation, 
he  spent  with  cheerful  heart  his  time,  his  money,  and 
his  mental  energies.  He  believed  in  human  progress, 
and  in  the  power  of  the  people  to  perpetuate  republican 
institutions.  The  means  for  doing  this  he  clearly  indi 
cated,  in  an  able  article  on  "  The  New  Departure  of  the 
Republican  Party,"  in  "  The  Atlantic  Monthly,"  Janu 
ary,  1871,  to  be  the  education  and  unification  of  the  peo 
ple.  He  saw  with  hopeful  eye  the  prospective  grandeur 
of  the  United  States,  yet  felt,  that,  to  attain  it,  we  must 
have  a  nobler  educational  system,  a  broader  knowledge 
of  the  principles  of  our  civil  and  political  institutions, 
a  better  understanding,  and  a  closer  application  of  the 
teachings  of  Christianity  to  our  public,  social,  and  pri 
vate  life. 

He  was,  therefore,  the  earnest  friend  of  the  public 
school,  the  university,  the  pulpit,  and  the  press.  Pro 
foundly  acquainted  with  the  genius  and  the  spirit  of 
tl.:s  nation,  from  the  workshop  to  the  halls  of  Con 
gress,  he  labored  wisely  and  persistently  to  make  the 
nation  what  it  is  :  hence  his  opinions  are  entitled  to  pro 
found  respect.  Among  the  self-made  men  of  the  times, 
he  stood  pre-eminent  as  a  man  magnificently  made. 
Though  reared  among  the  intemperate,  his  tongue 
was  never  contaminated  by  the  touch  of  alcohol  • 


HIS   CHARACTER.  451 

though  wielding  immense  patronage,  his  palm  was  nev 
er  stained  by  bribery ;  though  breathing  for  so  many 
years  the  infected  atmosphere  of  politics,  his  heart  still 
beat  fresh  and  free  for  human  sorrow  ;  though  rising 
by  indomitable  energy  and  integrity  from  a  low  posi 
tion  to  the  vice-presidency  of  the  United  States,  his 
spirit  remained  subdued  and  humble.  His  life,  so 
marked  by  manly  struggle,  earnest  words,  and  noble 
deeds,  is  a  model  for  the  young  men  of  America  to  hold 
before  them  for  encouragement  and  imitation.  It  was 
developed  and  guided  by  the  solid  principles  of  a  Book 
which  he  received  in  childhood,  and  which  sustained 
him  in  his  conflict  with  the  world,  and  gave  him  full 
assurance,  when  the  scenes  of  earth  were  fading,  of  a 
more  resplendent  life  to  come  :  hence  above  the  states 
man,  patriot,  and  historian,  he  stood,  and  will  ever 
stand,  before  the  world,  as  the  devoted  and  aspiring 
CHRISTIAN. 

It  is  not  by  any  means  desired  to  present  him  as  a 
perfect  man,  nor  to  claim  for  him  any  thing  more  than 
is  justly  due  ;  but  so  far  as  those  grand  elements  which 
form  true  manhood  go,  so  far  as  a  living  sympathy  with 
man  as  man,  so  far  as  a  life  unselfishly  devoted  to  the  sons 
of  toil  and  suffering,  so  far  as  the  daily  exemplification 
of  the  ennobling  principles  of  Christianity,  may  be  re 
garded,  he  made  a  record  that  will  hold  its  brightness 
when  the  memories  of  men  more  brilliant  in  exterior 
graces  shall  have  passed  into  oblivion.  He  was  an  in 
tensely  practical  and  earnest  working-man;  but  work  finds 
little  room  for  outward  graces :  yet  the  times  demanded 
working-men  strong  and  fearless.  He  had  the  will  to 
work ;  and,  as  we  said  in  the  beginning,  WORKERS  WIN. 


452  LIFE  Otf  HENRY  WILSON. 

From  boyhood,  he  sought  wisdom  as  most  men  seek 
gain.  He  stood  firm  for  human  right  in  defiance  of 
power.  He  bore  an  honorable  part  in  guiding  this 
nation  through  the  perils  of  war,  through  the  equal 
perils  attending  peace.  He  spent  his  life  in  giving  liberty 
to  the  slave,  and  in  opening  this  continent  to  free  labor. 
He  evinced  an  integrity  which  no  temptation  could 
corrupt,  no  threat  intimidate,  no  danger  shake ;  a  con 
fidence  in  God,  which  triumphed  over  death  itself:  and, 
having  so  lived  and  died,  he  deserves  well  of  his  coun 
try.  His  character,  as  a  star  of  serene,  benignant  ray, 
will  shine  the  brighter  as  men  shall  examine  it  the  more. 


— 


LI 
(D 


LD2lA-60m-3,'70 
(N5382slO)476-A-3- 


* 


225801 


